Bond of Promises
by Sora53
Summary: .:Sequel to Memory's Rhapsody:. With the growing threat of Organization XIII haunting them, Sora and Corita continue their journey. Along the way, they'll discover secrets and truths they never could've imagined. Where will their journey lead them?
1. New Beginnings

---Sora53: It's here! How I've looked forward to writing this...Bond of Promises!  
Joe: XD Who's Bond? And where's Promises?  
Sora53: -sigh-  
Fans: -sigh- will it ever end?  
Sora53: Nope.  
Corita: -eats a popsicle- This is actually really good!  
Roxas: Told ya.  
Sora53: I hope you all enjoy it. Wait a sec, where's Sora? He should be here for this happy day!  
Sora: -is being chased by Sora fangirls- HELP MEEEEE!  
Fans: ...Found him.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything KH2 related. I own my original characters, including good ol' Mr. Perkins!

Naminé sighed as she added the final touches to her latest drawing. After brushing off a few stray flakes of her pencil, she smiled and held it up to the light. She then gently lay her precious sketchbook on the table in front of her and stood up. Placing her pencil on top of her sketchbook, she stretched and gave another satisfied sigh.

Castle Oblivion had been rather uneventful ever since Sora and Riku had rid it of the Organization very recently. It had only been a few days at most, but the unnatural silence was unnerving. Naminé had kept herself occupied by drawing in her sketchbook and sparking the few conversations she could get out of Sora's sister, Corita.

Naminé began absentmindedly thumbing through her sketchbook, looking at her past drawings. She was growing increasingly uneasy about Corita. When she'd first met her, Corita had been, if anything, rather lively. Lately, however, she'd been silent, sitting on the floor near where Sora, Donald, and Goofy slept, doing nothing. It was almost as if she was a different person...

"Naminé!" called a voice. Naminé turned toward the doorway to her room and saw that it was Corita. Considering Corita was the only other person in the castle that wasn't sleeping, she wasn't too surprised that the voice was hers.

"Hello, Corita." Naminé said, slightly startled to see her so lively. Corita's eyes were wide and bright, but there was another emotion there as well...

"What is it?" Naminé asked. Corita walked into the room, blinking. Castle Oblivion's rooms were as bright as ever.

"Do you know someone named Ansem?" Corita asked.

"Ansem...I may've heard that name before...that's the man Riku was fighting against!"  
Naminé said slowly, thinking deeply. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was digging through the stuff that we've gathered on our journeys..." Corita said, her voice shaking slightly. "And I found these things called 'Ansem Reports'. There are 13 of them. The first one is just a bunch of fluff, but look at this one." Corita handed Naminé a rather crumpled piece of paper. Naminé smoothed it out to the best of her ability, and read out loud:

"'Ansem Report 2. It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:  
- Extract the darkness from a person's heart.  
- Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.  
- Both suppress and amplify the darkness within. The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle. Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness... What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?"

Naminé finished reading out loud, and skimmed it over a few more times. "This isn't good." She concluded.

"You think?" Corita cried, her voice shaking more. "Ansem did these experiments on people, just like Vexen did to me! Then they...they...turned into Heartless..."

"'Cultivate darkness in a pure heart'..." Naminé read again. She blinked and looked up at Corita. "Your symptoms. The earlier fainting...the weakness...you weren't a failed experiment after all!"

Corita glared at her. "Thanks for the support, Naminé. Can you do me a favor? When I start crawling around on all fours and my eyes start glowing, YOU explain to Sora what happened!"

"Don't panic yet." Naminé said. "You're not going to turn into a Heartless."

"But...the Report says..."

"You didn't let me finish. You aren't going to turn into a Heartless...yet."

Corita gulped. "So I'm just supposed to wait until I do? Nothing can be done?"

Naminé thought deeply for a moment. An awkward silence filled the room.

"Maybe...I could lock your heart, like I offered to do to Riku."

"Whaaa? Lock my heart?" Corita cried, leaping back.

"Yes. If it could've worked for Riku, I'm sure it'll work for you as well."

"But…I'll forget everything, won't I?" Corita said sadly, hanging her head. "I'll forget you, the Organization…I'll forget my promise to Riku…I'll forget that I got to see him again..."

"I'm sorry, Corita." Naminé said as she handed the Ansem Report back to her. "I'm afraid I have to insist. I can't have a Heartless running around the castle."

Corita lifted her head and bitterly said, "That's not funny." Despite her tone, she grinned slightly.

"You'll always remember your promise to Riku." Naminé said. "You made it before you came here anyway. All you'll need is something to jog your memory afterwords."

"My promise..."

"Let's go." Naminé said, gesturing for Corita to follow her. They headed down the short set of stairs that led to the room where Sora, Donald and Goofy slept.

"Here's a free pod." She said serenly as Corita grabbed the rest of their belongings and dragged them across the room. "It's only been a few days since Sora went to sleep. You don't have to recover all of your memories, either, so you should wake up the same time as him."

"How...does Goofy stand carrying...this stuff all...the time?" Corita panted as she dragged the stuff across the room.

"You'd better get to sleep before your eyes start glowing." Naminé joked.

Corita dropped the bag on her foot in her horror.

"OW! Naminé...that's not funny...OOOWWWW!"

Naminé laughed. "Best to make the best out of a bad situation, right?" Corita sighed and lay the bag at the end of her pod. She climbed into the pod carefully.

"Don't you worry, Corita. I'll take good care of you." Naminé said as she prepared the pod.

"Will I ever see you again?" Corita asked.

"You'll forget me, but we'll still know each other in our hearts." She said as she made the final preparations.

"How corny." Corita said as she ran her fingers through her short hair.

"All set. I'm sorry it's come to this." Naminé said as she looked up at her.

"It's not your fault. Hopefully I'll never have to see another person in a black coat again. With the exception of Riku or the King, of course."

"Goodbye, Corita." Naminé said as the pod began to close.

"Man, all the bad stuff happens to me." Corita said bitterly. "Having my heart snatched to make a Keyblade of Darkness, kidnapped several times, and now my heart is slowly collapsing. Just my luck."

With a final snap, the pod closed shut.

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_Some time later..._

"Hayner! Olette! Pence!" The 3 friends looked up from their sea-salt ice creams to see Roxas, one of their best friends, skateboard in. He came to a graceful stop and swiftly grabbed the ice cream Hayner tossed to him.

"Thanks." Roxas said, picking up his skateboard and sitting on his usual seat.

"Where's Tria?" Olette asked. Roxas pointed out the door. His sister, Tria, was slowly making her way towards the Usual Spot on her skateboard.

"I'm finally getting the hang of this thing!" Tria said cheerfully, right before she toppled over. Her skateboard flew into the air and landed a foot away from her. Her friends broke into laughter, and she picked it up, blushing. Hayner tossed her an ice cream as well, and she sat down next to her brother.

"It's not her fault." Roxas explained to their friends. "She only started a little while ago."

"That's because you wouldn't let me." Tria said, her cheeks still bright red.

"Hey, you're my sister." Roxas said, jokingly putting his arm around her. "You've gotta let your big brother watch out for you."

"It looks like you've been improving, though." Pence said in a comforting tone.

"Thanks, Pence." Tria said gratefully. "At least someone appreciates my skills...stop laughing at me, Roxas!"

The 5 friends were gathered in the Usual Spot, their favorite hangout hidden in a back alley. Hayner, the leader of the group, was an outgoing young man with light hair, sporting a green vest on top of a dark shirt, with baggy camo pants.

Pence was less outgoing, but had a heart of gold. He was wearing his favorite 'Dog Street' shirt, as well as a pair of blue pants. He had messy black hair and brown eyes.

Olette wore a simple orange tanktop with yellow pants. She was quieter than the others, but took care of the group. She had bright green eyes with dark, long brown hair.

Roxas and Tria were twins. Both had very light brown, almost blond hair as well as stunning blue eyes. Both wore light clothes; however, Roxas wore a light jacket above a dark shirt, while Tria wore a black jacket above a light shirt. Tria wore light tan pants that fell to her knees, while Roxas wore black and tan pants that hung around his shoes. Tria's hair was slightly longer than Roxas's, and it hung in loose tufts carefully brushed away from her face. Roxas's hair stuck up more than his sister's.

The friends finished their sea-salt ice creams, and headed out into town. The sun was caught in limbo between darkness and light, as it always was in their home of Twilight Town.

"It's almost the end of summer vacation." Olette said as the group walked slowly along the main street. "We haven't gone to the beach once."

"Tickets to the beach are really expensive, though." Tria said, walking next to her. "There's no way we'll be able to afford five tickets with what we have now."

"How much do we have?" Roxas asked, and the group came to a halt as they dug through their pockets.

"I've got 500 munny at home, and 20 here." Hayner said, showing them the brightly colored orbs.

"Hmm...300 total." Pence said, finding nothing in his pockets.

"I know we've got 600 total at home." Roxas said as he and Tria dug through their pockets.

"I have an empy gum wrapper." Tria said sadly, finding nothing in her pockets.

"Here, I'll trade you for this ice cream stick." Roxas offered.

"I have 450, so that means a total of 1870 munny, not including the gum wrapper or the ice cream stick." Olette said.

"We should take some jobs." Hayner suggested. "They're hiring...look at the job board." The group turned to where Hayner pointed, only to see that it was covered from top to bottom in requests for work.

"A few odd jobs and we'll have plenty to go to the beach." Hayner said. They walked over to the board and each of them took down an ad.

"Poster hanger...sounds easy enough." Tria said cheerfully.

"Letter carrier. I think I can handle that." Roxas muttered.

"Exterminator? Eh, if it'll earn munny..." Pence said, folding up his ad and placing it in his pocket.

"Meet back here when you've gotten some more munny." Hayner said, distracted as he read the ad he'd chosen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Struggle! The Struggle! The Struggle!" Tria muttered as she lugged a huge roll of tape and a few stray posters back to her employer. "The town is already excited enough about it...why do I need to hang posters everywhere?" She finally dropped the extras in front of her employer, Mr. Perkins.

"Good job, Tria." Mr. Perkins said. "This should be enough. You did a fine job."

"Mr. Perkins, what's the point in hanging these posters everywhere?" Tria asked as she rolled up the extra posters. "The whole town already knows about The Struggle."

"It's nice seeing the posters. Makes it seem more real that it's finally come." Mr. Perkins explained. "Are you competing this year?"

"Maybe. If Roxas lets me." She sighed. Mr. Perkins let out a short laugh. "He's a bit too protective, that one."

"You're telling me." She said, handing him the last of the posters. "Roxas is entered, that's for sure. Hayner is, too."

"That's good to hear." Mr. Perkins said, handing Tria a small pouch of munny. "Take it, you earned it."

"Thanks, Mr. Perkins. I'll see you later!" Tria said cheerfully as she waved goodbye to him. She'd only walked 15 feet before Roxas was heading towards her on his skateboard.

"Show off." She muttered.

"What was that?" Roxas asked.

"Nothing at all." She said sweetly. "How'd the letter deliveries go?"

"Not too bad. Made a decent amount. You?"

"Besides the tape in my hair, never better. I was hanging posters for The Struggle."

"I wondered where all the posters came from. You hung a few of them crooked over by the train station."

"...Thanks for noticing"

Sora53: I wouldn't know. Is this one of those dun dun dun moments?  
Fans:-sigh- No.  
Joe: You knew about that Ansem Report the whole time, didn't you?  
Sora53: O-o YOU CAN'T PROVE A THING! -runs away screaming-  
Corita: -pokes Sora-  
Sora: -pokes Corita-  
Roxas: STOP THE MADNESS!  
Mr. Perkins: HI, EVERYONE!  
Sora53: You're only in this one chapter! Go away!  
Everyone: Bye, Mr. Perkins!  
Mr. Perkins: -sob- You all hate me, don't you?  
Fans: Well...


	2. The Disciplinary Committee

---Sora53: Wow, I'm so happy you all liked the first chappie so much! This chapter is even better XD  
Fans: Says who?  
Sora53: Says me. Since this is the beginning of a new fic, I must claim ultimate power over you. I CLAIM THE POWER! MUAHAHA!  
Fans: You're weird.  
Roxas: I really want some sea-salt ice cream.  
Corita: You've been doing nothing but eating the stuff for months!  
Roxas: I know, but still...  
Riku Fangirls: -squeal- Riku?  
Sora53: NO!  
Riku Fangirls: GET HER!  
Sora53: -sigh- -runs away screaming- 

Disclaimer: I dun own nothing but Corita and Tria. Oh, and Mr. Perkins too, but I don't know how many more times he'll be mentioned...

"Good job, everyone!" Olette said happily as she poured the munny each of them had made into her handmade pouch. "I'll count it and see if we have enough. In the meantime..."

She took out a few orbs and handed them to Roxas. "Let's get ourselves some ice cream to celebrate a hard day's work!"

"Great!" Roxas said, looking down at the small orbs. "Tria and I'll meet you at the station tower."

Tria was standing next to Roxas, holding their skateboards. Hayner, Olette and Pence headed away from them, and Tria handed Roxas his skateboard.

"Alright, Roxas." Tria said, dropping her skateboard to the ground. "I've pretty much mastered standing on it...now how do I actually ride it?"

"It's easy." Roxas laughed, getting on his own. "Just push forward with your leg...and direct yourself by shifting your weight."

Roxas skated forward, and Tria began to move forward. She pushed forward with her right leg, and began speeding up.

"Look, Roxas! I'm doing it! I'm...going down a hill! AHH!"

"Don't panic! Wait...where are you going? TRIA!"

Roxas quickly followed Tria, who was skating off into oblivion.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tria eventually came to a halt in front of the items shop, panting heavily.

"Wow...I think that's the first time I didn't crash!" She said brightly.

"You've been improving." Roxas said kindly, picking up his skateboard and walking with her to the ice cream shop.

"Roxas! Tria! Let me guess...5 ice creams?" The store owner asked kindly when they approached him.

"Yes, please." Tria said as she took the ice creams he handed her. Roxas dug the munny out of his pocket, and handed them to him. They headed towards the station tower, ice creams in hand.

"So, Roxas..." Tria said as they walked past several crooked signs for The Struggle, "You're fighting in the Struggle again, right? I was thinking about entering myself."

"You?" Roxas asked, startled. "I dunno..."

"You don't think I'm good enough?"

"It's not that at all! It's just...jerks like Seifer are going to be in it and..."

"What was that?" An all-too familiar voice called out. Roxas and Tria turned to see that Seifer and his gang were 20 feet away from them.

"Oh...hello, Seifer." Tria grunted.

Seifer, as always, was accompanied by his friends: Raijin and Fujin, who preferred to be called Rai and Fuu, as well as Vivi. Rai was a muscular guy, though not very bright. Fuu was a clever and intelligent young woman, and very simple with her methods. Vivi was a young black mage and rather timid, which was probably the only reason why he went along with Seifer in the first place. As the leader of the group, Seifer was bold and outspoken, and considered himself and his friends the town's 'Disciplinary Committee'.

"Hope you don't chicken out of the tournament tommorow." Seifer taunted. Roxas ignored him and continued walking.

"Hey, Trio."

"It's Tria." Tria said angrily.

"Don't fall for it." Roxas whispered quickly.

"What have you got there?"

"Nothing for you." She hissed.

"Oooh, that hurt." Seifer said angrily. He began heading towards them, and his friends followed.

"Seifer doesn't like it when people talk back to him, y'know?" Rai said.

"Ice cream." Fuu stated, looking at the treats Tria held.

"Give 'em here." Seifer said, holding out his hand. Tria ignored him, and she and Roxas kept walking.

"Incompetence." Fuu said.

"Seifer! She just totally dissed you, y'know?" Rai growled to his leader.

"Yeah...looks like we're gonna have to teach Chicken Wuss and Trio a lesson. It's our duty to protect the well-being of this town."

"Roxas, do something." Tria whispered in her brother's ear.

"Me! You got us into this!"

"Over there! That's Mr. Perkin's shed!" Tria whispered back. Meanwhile, Seifer was ranting about his 'sworn duty' with Rai and Fuu spouting out agreements. "There should be some extra weapons for the Struggle there!"

"On my count, we run for the shed." Roxas whispered. "One..."

"So, fork over the ice cream!"

"Two..."

"Seifer doesn't like to wait for his ice cream, y'know?"

"THREE!"

Roxas and Tria ran forward, where Mr. Perkins shed stood. Mr. Perkins was the head of the Struggle tournament organizing, so he took care of most of the equipment. Dashing inside, Roxas and Tria dropped their skateboards as well as the ice cream and grabbed the nearest weapons. Roxas grabbed an almost club-like sword, while Tria grabbed a staff with a star on top. Both were blue with yellow handles. The twins dashed back outside to see Seifer and his gang waiting for them.

"You really think you can take me on?" Seifer growled.

"Seifer's never lost before, y'know?" Rai shouted.

"Undefeated." Fuu agreed.

"Wait a second." Tria said to Roxas. "We're fighting Seifer over ice cream?"

"It's the point of the matter, Tria." Roxas responded.

Seifer was handed a Struggle weapon by Vivi, who'd been silent so far. Vivi then retreated back behind Seifer.

"Where did you get that?" Roxas asked.

"Snatched it from Old Man Perkins yesterday. Gotta stay prepared for the Struggle." Seifer shrugged. "You two'll be good practice."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Uhhh...Seifer's not feeling his best today!" Rai explained hastily, leaping in front of his beloved leader.

"Headache." Fuu said, leaping in front of Rai.

"Well, you were right Seifer." Roxas said, lowering his weapon. "That WAS good practice."

Seifer growled and stalked off, followed by his beloved posse. Roxas and Tria looked at each other.

"You did a great job, Roxas." Tria complimented.

"You were awesome, too." Roxas said, turning towards her. "Hey...how did you get so good? I've never let you near a weapon..."

"I've been smuggling Struggle weapons and practicing for 4 weeks." Tria sighed.

"Oh...well, then. Are you entering?"

"Are you serious?" Tria gasped.

"Are you nuts? You were great out there!"

"Are you insane? You were way better than me..."

"Are you crazy? Why don't we both just enter?"

"ARE YOU TWO BRINGING THE ICE CREAM OR NOT?" Hayner's voice roared over their conversation. Looking up, they saw their friends sitting on the station tower, watching them. Roxas and Tria laughed nervously, and headed back to Mr. Perkins's shed to retrieve their things.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"In two days we hit the beach." Hayner said happily, eating his slightly melted ice cream.

"Can't wait." Pence said.

"Yup." Olette agreed as she ate her ice cream as well.

"Tommorow's the Struggle." Roxas said. "You're entering, right Hayner?"

"Of course. You two entering?" He asked.

"Absolutely." Tria said happily. "Roxas is finally letting me. Not that I need his permission, right?"

"You always need my permission, little sis." Roxas joked, snatching her half-eaten ice cream.

"Hey! I worked hard for that!" Tria whined. Laughing, Roxas handed it back to her. The 5 friends stared off into the sunset, enjoying one of the last days of their summer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roxas tossed around in his sleep. His last few nights had been plagued with strange dreams, and tonight was no exception...

A strange red-haired girl was laughing...

A silver-haired boy was racing another boy down a long beach...

A brown-haired girl was talking to the silver-haired boy...

A final character, a brown-haired boy, was talking to the girls...

Roxas tried to focus...the figures were speaking...

"Sora?" The brown-haired girl asked.

The scene changed. The four figures were gathered around a tree, where 3 of then were sitting. The silver haired boy was standing beside them.

"Just talking, as usual." He said.

Then the two brown-haired figures were in a strange area, surrounded by darkness. "Wouldn't want to fall down there..." The boy named Sora said.

"Yeah, that would be a bad thing..." The girl agreed. The dream grew fuzzy, and it was hard to hear them...

"Watch out, Corita!" Sora shouted as a large creature attacked them. The creature was unlike anything Roxas could've ever imagined...

Suddenly, the scene changed again. The two were sitting in a room with 2 others.

"The Heartless are beings without hearts." The strange man said.

"Well, that's creative." Corita said gruffly.

"Well, I didn't ask for this." Sora said bitterly. The screen grew fuzzy again. When it was visible again, two new figures had joined Sora and Corita. One was a large dog and one was a grumpy-sounding duck.

"They to have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade." Someone said. Roxas couldn't tell who.

"Alright. I'll go with you guys!" Sora said cheerfully. With a final jolt, Roxas sat bolt upright in his bed. Panting heavily, Roxas rubbed his eyes, trying to see clearly.

"A Key...blade?" Roxas muttered, looking down at his hands. He could almost feel the smooth metal of the weapon he'd seen, almost see it gleaming in the twilight.

"Roxas?" Tria's voice shouted across the house. "You'd better get up right now or we're going to be late!"

"Late? For what?" Roxas wondered, trying to remember. The dreams seemed to have clouded his mind.

"The Struggle!" Tria's voice called. It seemed she was getting ready for it, as her voice kept getting louder and softer. She must've been moving from room to room, Roxas thought. "Say it with me now! The. Struggle. Get up or else!"

"Why, what are you gonna do to me?" Roxas joked as he got up and opened his door. "Chase me on your skateboard?"

Tria's angry face appeared in front of him. Roxas flashed her a bright smile, and she sighed.

"I'm not in the mood right now, Roxas." She said as she walked away. "I got NO sleep last night, and if I fight Seifer and lose today then I'll be forever known as 'Trio, the incredible ice-cream delivering wonder'. MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!"

"Alright, I understand!" Roxas shouted across the house as he walked back over to his bed and flopped down onto it.

"Don't you dare lay back down on that bed!" Tria shouted to him.

---Fans: How did she know?  
Sora53: Female intuition.  
Fans: Really?  
Joe: Yup. Just like how Corita always knows whenever I'm in the room. By the way, have you seen her?  
Sora53: Nope.  
Corita: -is hiding from Joe- Muahaha!  
Sora: Why did you drag me into this?  
Corita: Because if I hide alone, I'll be lonely.  
Sora: I'm out of here.  
Corita: NO! I'll BE LONELY!


	3. The Struggle

---Sora53: Whoo! It's time for the summmer's most exciting clash!  
Fans: But it's April.  
Sora53: BE SILENT!  
Joe: CORITA! WHERE ARE YOU!  
Sora: -randomly appears- She's hiding in that random cave. -points to a random cave-  
Joe: Corita! My love, I'm coming for you!  
Sora53: But Corita isn't in this chapter.  
Joe: What? -dies-  
Sora53: Or is she? -shifty eyes-  
Setzer fangirls: SETZER! -faints-  
Fans: O-o  
Sora53: I changed the Struggle around a bit...I like it better this way anyway.  
Fans: That's just because your OC is in it.  
Sora53: SHUT UP! 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters. Fear them.

"Roxas! Tria! What kept you guys?" Hayner called as the twins headed down the main street. Hayner, Olette and Pence were gathered under a sign for The Struggle, waiting for them.

"We had a bit of a...delay." Tria said grumpily, glaring as Roxas.

"Let's head to the Sandlot." Roxas said quicky, sensing Tria's glare.

"The tournament rankings are up." Pence explained. "There are eight competitors in the beginning. 3 of which would be you." He said, gesturing to Hayner, Roxas and Tria. "Seifer's entered, and so are his flunkies. Vivi, too. I don't know why...he never struck me as a big fighter."

"Vivi can be tough when he needs to be." Hayner said. "He just never gets the chance around Seifer, right?"

"Who else?" Tria asked as they entered the sandlot.

"I dunno. Some guy named -"

"SETZERRRR!" Several girls screamed as they ran by. They were flocking by a tall, silver-haired man in a purple cape.

"Some guy named Setzer." Pence finished, glaring at the girls. Some who were walking by glared at him, as if they couldn't believe he dared mutter Setzer's name without fainting afterwords.

"I'm...guessing that guy is Setzer." Tria sighed.

"Yep. He's last year's champion." Olette said. "I don't know what the big deal is."

Another pack of girls walked by, glaring at her.

"Man, he sure has a following, doesn't he?" Roxas muttered.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 5 friends were now gathered around the tournament breakdown board, where they would find who they were fighting. The announcer of the tournament was, of course, Mr. Perkins.

"Alright, you guys." Mr Perkins said, taking out a notebook. "Everyone here? Lesseee...Roxas, yes...Hayner, Seifer, Tria, Vivi, Raijin, Fujin, and..."

"Setzer." The man called Setzer said, pulling himself away from a pack of girls.

"Ah, yes. Last year's champion." Mr. Perkins said, marking him off in his notebook. "Alright, the breakdown of the tournament is very simple. There will be 4 fights in the beginning to determine who will move on. The winners of those fights will face each other to move on to the semifinals. After those 2 fights, the finals will begin, and the winner will be this year's Struggle champion."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's hurry this along." Seifer complained.

"Patience." Mr Perkins said, scribbling down something in his notebook. "The object of the Struggle, as I'm sure you all know, is to collect your opponents orbs. Get your opponent to drop their orbs by..."

"Beating them senseless with your weapon." Seifer finished.

Mr. Perkins glared at him. "Whoever has the most orbs at the end of the match moves on to the next round."

Mr. Perkins flipped over the tournament breakdown board, revealing who would be fighting who. "The first round will be broken down like so." He explained, pointing to the board. "Roxas versus Hayner. Raijin versus Setzer. Seifer versus Vivi. Fujin versus Tria. Any questions?"

"When do we start fighting?" Seifer asked loudly.

"You'll fight your opponent after the last 2 fighters have finished their match." Mr. Perkins said, his voice clearly losing its patience. "You and Vivi will be in after Roxas and Hayner fight."

Roxas and Hayner looked at each other.

"Best of luck, you guys!" Tria said cheerfully.

"Easy for you to say. You aren't fighting your best friend." Roxas muttered to her as the fighters dispersed into the crowd.

"I'm fighting Fujin." Tria said gravely. "She gives me the creeps."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Struggle fiends of Twilight Town!" Mr. Perkins announced to the excited crowd. "It's the moment you've all been waiting for! It's the highlight of the summer! That's right...today is the day for the Struggle! Who will be the one to break through the ranks?"

The crowd began to roar. Various names were being shouted, and several girls fainted after screaming Setzer's name.

"You all know what's next!" Mr. Perkins roared. "Lets...STRUGGLE!"

The crowd's roars grew even louder. Applause filled the air, and Mr. Perkins held up his hand to silence them.

"It's time to introduce today's combatants! Regular finalist and head of the Twilight Disciplinary Committee: Seifer! Tough guy and one of Seifer's best friends: Raijin! Silent yet strong, and another member of the Disciplinary Committee: Fujin! Completely out of nowhere: Vivi! An underground favorite and local attitude problem: Hayner! One of my absolute favorite customers: Roxas! My other favorite customer and Roxas's sister: Tria! And, of course, last year's champion, who has quite a following: Setzer!"

Several girls fainted after hearing Setzer's name.

"Who will win this sweltering summer Struggle? Who will take home the grand prize: the Five Crystal Trophy! Our first match will be Hayner versus Roxas!"

Hayner and Roxas climbed onto the stage, and the crowd began to roar once again. Mr. Perkins handed each of them a Struggle weapon, patted them on the shoulder, and headed off the stage.

"Hey, good luck." Roxas said to Hayner.

Hayner nodded. "You, too."

The bell sounded for the beginning of the match. Roxas and Hayner lept away from each other, and prepared to fight. Pence, Tria and Olette cheered wildly as their friends knocked each other's orbs away and gathered them. In the last few seconds of the match, Roxas hit Hayner with a powerful swing, causing Hayner to lose his balance and drop several orbs. Roxas grabbed them quickly right before the bell sounded for the end of the match.

"What a match!" Mr. Perkins announced to the wild crowd. "Please wait while we count our competator's orbs."

In the end, Hayner had 75 orbs and Roxas had 125. Mr. Perkins officially announced Roxas as the winner, and the crowd's cheers reached an all-time high.

"Wow, not even friendship will slow this kid down." Mr. Perkins said as Roxas waved to the crowd. "And Hayner put up a great fight, too!"

Roxas looked over to where Hayner stood near the end of the stage, and ran over to him. Hayner heard his footsteps and turned to meet him.

"Aw, I lost! I can't believe it!" Hayner said once Roxas reached him.

"I had a lot of fun fighting you." Roxas told him.

"Yeah, well, I didn't, wise guy." Hayner said through a smile.

"No hard feelings?" Roxas asked.

Hayner was about to respond when Seifer walked by and shoved him. "Out of the way." Seifer growled.

"You in a rush to lose?" Hayner asked.

Roxas watched them until he looked over to his side and realized that Vivi was standing next to him. Roxas made an odd squeaking noise in surprise and lept away.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." Hayner said, grabbing Roxas's arm and pulling him off the stage. The two of them headed over to Pence, Olette, and Tria.

"Our next match will be Seifer versus Vivi!" Mr. Perkins announced.

"Don't mess with your elders." Seifer warned.

Vivi didn't respond. He merely turned away from Mr. Perkins, who he'd been listening to, to face his opponent.

"Just look at those sparks fly!" Mr. Perkins shouted. The instant the bell to announce the start of the match rang, Vivi lept off the ground towards Seifer and took several swings at in. Seifer lept back in shock, narrowly avoiding losing his balance.

"When did Vivi get so tough?" Tria asked nervously. Roxas and Hayner shook their heads. Within a few seconds, Vivi had knocked Seifer off his feet several times and gathered many orbs. By the end of the match, Vivi had creamed him.

"I...I'm not sure what happened..." Mr. Perkins announced slowly. "But...in a blistering comeback, the winner is Vivi!"

Seifer ambled off the stage, rubbing his head. Rai and Fuu rushed over to him to console him.

"That's not Vivi." Seifer said bitterly to his posse.

"Don't worry about it! You put up a great fight, y'know?" Rai said.

"Our next match is Raijin versus Setzer!" Mr. Perkins called. Setzer was already on the stage, holding up his championship belt.

"That's my cue! See you later, y'know?" Rai said to his friends as he turned away and ran onto the stage.

Seifer walked past Roxas, Hayner and Tria. "That wasn't Vivi." Seifer repeated. "Thrash him." He said to Roxas.

The fight between Rai and Setzer wasn't nearly as interesting as the other two. Setzer and Rai put up a good fight, but Setzer came out the victor, with a difference of 12 orbs. The crowd went wild once again as both competators headed off the stage. Rai headed towards his leader as Fuu headed onto the stage as Tria headed towards Mr. Perkins.

"The final match of the first round!" Mr. Perkins shouted. "Tria versus Fujin!"

Seifer and his gang shouted and cheered for Fujin, while Tria's friends cheered for her. The rest of the crowd merely whistled and clapped, not including the girls who had fainted after Setzer won his battle.

"Good luck." Tria said, offering her hand.

Fuu didn't shake her hand. She didn't even respond. Tria sighed and took the weapon Mr. Perkins handed to her.

"Good luck, both of you." Mr. Perkins said warmly.

The bell sounded for the beginning of the round. Tria and Fuu lept apart. Fuu put up a surprisingly good fight, as did Tria. Fuu's fighting style was similar to how she did everything else: simple. Tria fought back with quick, successive attacks. In the last 10 seconds, Fuu hit Tria with a powerful attack and snatched most of her orbs, but Tria struck back quickly and took the majority of them back. The match was the closest of them all: Tria won 108 orbs to 92.

"The winner is Tria!" Mr. Perkins announced as the crowd went wild once again. Fuu glared at her.

"Cheater." She said.

"What? I didn't cheat!" Tria growled. "You're just a sore loser!"

"Lucky."

"It wasn't luck!" Tria growled. "It was skill!"

"Tria, just ignore her! She's a broken record anyway." Hayner shouted from the sidelines. Tria walked over to where her friends stood and hopped off the stage.

"That's the end of round one!" Mr. Perkins announced. "Our winners are Roxas, Vivi, Setzer and Tria! Let's give them a round of applause, for the winners and the losers!"

The crowd applauded wildly. Several girls fainted after seeing Setzer wave to the crowd.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good job, Tria." Roxas complimented. "You put up a great fight out there!"

Tria shrugged. "It was close. If I hadn't gotten that last hit in, I would've lost."

"Either way, you guys are both in the semifinals!" Olette said.

"Hayner, you put up a great fight." Pence said.

"Don't worry about it." Hayner said. "Roxas and Tria'll be buying the ice cream tonight, that's all."

"The first match of the semifinals will be Roxas versus Vivi!" Mr. Perkins announced.

"Good luck, Roxas!" Olette said cheerfully.

"You can take him!" Pence said.

"See you in the finals." Tria said, smiling.

Roxas nodded and walked to the stage. He hopped on, and walked over to Mr. Perkins. Vivi was already there, holding his weapon and staring at the ground. When Mr. Perkins gave Roxas his weapon, Vivi meandered to the other end of the stage. Roxas headed in the opposite direction, and Mr. Perkins got out of the way.

"GO!" Mr. Perkins shouted as he rang the bell to begin the match.

During this match, Vivi was, if anything, fiercer than before. Roxas had seen the fight between him and Seifer, but even he was shocked that Vivi had so much power in him. Roxas fought back as fiercely as he could, but he was still slightly unnerved. In the end, however, Roxas came out the victor once more, with a score of 131 to 69.

"ROXAS! ROXAS!" The crowd screamed as Roxas grinned and headed towards his friends. Vivi, slightly dazed, hopped off the stage and turned to watch the next match.

"And Roxas is the winner!" Mr. Perkins announced. The next match of the semifinals will be Tria versus Setzer!"

Tria's friends cheered loudly for her, but it was largely drowned out by the cheers of Setzer's many fans. Both got on the stage and headed towards Mr. Perkins.

"Let's have a good, clean match." Mr. Perkins said, handing each of them a struggle weapon.

"Hey, Trio." Setzer said, turning to face her as Mr. Perkins walked away.

"Did Rai tell you that was my name?" Tria responded grumpily, glaring up at him.

"How about you throw the match for me?" He asked, ignoring her response.

"What? Get real!" Tria growled.

"C'mon...I'll give you an honorary membership into my fan club! What do you say?"

"I'm not one of your fainting followers." Tria said angrily. "Are you going to fight me or not?"

"It's Tria versus former champion Setzer!" Mr. Perkins announced. "The winner of this match will be headed to the finals!"

"Since you refuse to throw the match, you're going to have to face my true power." Setzer said softly. "You've made a big mistake."

"We'll see about that." Tria growled.

The bell rang, and the match began. Tria wasted no time, using quick attacks and gathering Setzer's orbs before he could hit back. The match was quick, and by the time it ended, Tria had flattened Setzer 167 orbs to 33.

"TRIA! TRIA!" The crowd cheered. Tria waved to the crowd as Setzer hung his head and walked away. Clearly he'd assumed Tria'd be a pushover, merely fainting with happiness at the sight of him. The crowd continued to cheer as Tria headed off the stage towards her friends.

The upcoming match will be Roxas versus Tria!" Mr. Perkins announced to the excited crowd. "Who knew these two were such fighters? Stick around, folks, for the twin's tussle of the summer!"

"You two are going to fight each other?" Olette asked as Tria headed towards them.

"Looks like it." Tria said.

"This is gonna be great!" Pence said excitedly.

"Hey, you'd better not go easy on me." Tria warned Roxas.

"Why would I do that?" Roxas asked nervously.

"It just seems like something you would do. You're too nice to me for your own good."

A pack of girls walked by. Several of them were sobbing, and the rest glared at Tria.

"What's up with them?" Tria asked.

"...You just creamed their idol." Hayner told her. "You're going to be the most hated person in the 'I Love Setzer' club."

"This town doesn't seriously have an 'I Love Setzer' club, does it?" Pence asked.

"Yep. I can only assume it does."

Tria laughed nervously as another pack of girls walked by, glaring at her.

---Riku Fangirls: Riku...Riku...  
Fans: What's wrong with you?  
Riku Fangirls: WE MISS RIKU! -sob- -sob- -sob-  
Sora53:O-o He's right over there in that cave. -points to a random cave-  
Riku Fangirls: -tackles cave-  
Cave: -ish tackled-  
Corita: -sob- I'M LONELY!  
Joe: Corita? Did I hear your voice?  
Corita: No...it's the voices in your head again!  
Joe: -sob- I thought they went away for good!  
Sora53: O-o


	4. Axel

---Sora53: Dun dun dun! Now, as I'm sure many of you noticed, I'm mixing up some stuff in Twilight Town. Why? Because it's fun.  
Joe: But...by this point...  
Sora53: DO NOT QUESTION ME!  
Sora: -is playing KH2-  
Fans: -is watching Sora play KH2-  
Corita: -is eating ice cream and watching Sora play KH2-  
Sora53: The Fans...they...look happy! -gasp-  
Fans: Yeah! This is much more interesting than your stupid fic!  
Riku Fangirls: -run around screaming- 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my characters. Sadly, I think this is the last chapter that we'll see good ol' Mr. Perkins, so wave goodbye. -waves goodbye-

"Here it is, folks!" Mr. Perkins announced to the wild crowd. "The final match of this summer's Struggle!"

Roxas and Tria stood on the stage next to him. They waved to the crowds, who were cheering their names.

"Here are our two proud combatants!" Mr. Perkins said. "Roxas!"

Mr. Perkins gestured to Roxas, and the crowd began chanting his name.

"And Tria!"

The crowd began cheering for Tria. Tria grinned and blushed, and Roxas waved more rapidly.

"Let's get ready for the finals!" Mr Perkins announced, and the crowd exploded into a roar of cheers and applause. Mr. Perkins handed each of them a Struggle weapon, and nodded to them.

"Good luck, both of you." He said softly. He then turned back to the crowd as Roxas and Tria headed to separate corners of the stage.

"Here we go! Brother versus sister! Who will come out on top? Let's..."

"STRUGGLE!" The crowd roared.

Mr. Perkins rang the bell for the beginning of the match, and the battle began. Roxas and Tria kept their distance for a short time, then both tried to attack each other at the same time. Tria quickly lept away, but not before Roxas knocked a few orbs away from her. While Roxas gathered them quickly, Tria whacked him with her own Struggle weapon and snatched several of his orbs. The crowd continued to cheer as the battle progressed. Roxas and Tria continued hitting each other and stealing each others orbs just as quickly as their twin did.

The warning bell for 10 seconds left sounded, and both were exhausted of darting back and forth between striking and retreating. Roxas took a deep breath, and prepared to strike Tria once more. He halted, however, when he realized that Tria was standing before him, weapon lowered. She had a strange expression on her face, a mixture of curiosity and fear, and was looking around at the crowds. Roxas lowered his weapon as well and looked around at the crowds as well.

The crowds, which had been roaring and cheering loudly seconds before, were now entirely silent. As a matter of fact, they weren't moving either. It was as if they'd been frozen in time.

"What is..." Tria asked slowly.

"...going on? I have no idea." Roxas said, walking towards her.

All around them, bright flashes of light shot up from the ground several feet in the air. When the light had faded, several strange creatures surrounded them.

Tria lept back in surprise. The creatures were tall and white, with long gangly legs and arms. At the end of their arms were sharp claw-like weapons. Their heads were flat on the top, with a strange symbol covering it. Tria and Roxas inched closer together as the creatures slowly crept towards them.

In another flash of light, Roxas's Struggle weapon was replaced by another, a large silver and gold key.

"Again..." Roxas whispered, holding the key up to the light.

"What? This has happened to you before?" Tria asked nervously as the creatures inched closer.

"Well..." Roxas started to say, but he was cut off as one of the creatures swiped at him.

"I'll tell you later!" He said quickly, leaping away from her and slicing at the creatures with the mysterious key. Tria watched anxiously as her brother swiftly cut down the enemies. After they had all been defeated, he slowly made his way back to her, panting heavily.

"Good job!" Tria said, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks." Roxas panted. "They gave me more of a hassle than you did, though."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just kidding." Roxas laughed. "But...what are we supposed to do now?"

The twins looked around them. The crowd, including Hayner, Pence, and Olette, still appeared frozen in time.

"Good question." Tria sighed. "I guess we should..."

She didn't get a chance to finish, however. At the sound of someone applauding, she lept back a few inches, nearly knocking Roxas over in the process. Both turned nervously to see a tall figure standing at the edge of the stage. He was wearing a black coat with a hood, which covered his face. It was he who was applauding, and when Roxas and Tria turned to face him, he stopped.

"Roxas. All right. Fight fight fight." The man said, walking slowly towards them.

"Erm...do you know him?" Tria asked her brother.

Roxas shook his head. "No."

"You really don't remember?" The man asked. "It's me. You know...Axel."

As he said his name, Axel removed his hood. Roxas and Tria saw that his hair was fire-red and spiked backwards. His eyes were an intense aqua color, and he also wore a smile.

"Axel?" Roxas wondered.

"Never heard of you." Tria said, crossing her arms.

"Talk about blank with a capital 'B'." Axel retorted. "Man oh man, even the Dusks aren't gonna crack this one."

Axel held his hands out to his sides, and fire surrounded them. The fire began spinning, and within seconds, a chakram had appeared in each gloved hand.

"Wait a second." Roxas said quicky as he and Tria backed away. "Tell us what's going on!"

"This town is his creation, right?" Axel asked, looking around at the crowds. "Which means we don't have time for a Q and A. You're coming with me, conscious or not."

"Why don't you start making sense?" Tria replied angrily.

"Don't worry." Axel said. "I'll get a chance to explain."

Roxas and Tria began backing away once again, but as they did, the area around them grew fuzzy. Blinking, they looked wildly around, but the strange phenomenon continued.

"Uh oh." They heard Axel whisper.

Roxas sighed heavily and glared at the ground. He slowly picked his head up, carrying the mysterious key with him. He stared at it for a moment.

"What's going on!" Roxas roared, throwing the key to the ground. Axel stood there, watching him. Roxas lifted his hand slowly, and with a flash of light, the key appeared once again in his hand.

"Number 13. Roxas." Axel said as Roxas and Tria stared at the key in wonder. "The Keyblade's chosen one."

Axel prepared his chakrams for battle. Roxas looked away from the Keyblade to stare at his foe.

"Okay, fine!" Roxas spat. "You asked for it!"

Roxas lept forward and began attacking Axel. Tria dashed to the end of the stage to watch the fight from a save distance. She hated the fact that she couldn't help Roxas, but there was really nothing she could do. Axel threw his chakrams at Roxas, and Roxas blocked them with his Keyblade. He knocked the weapons back at their master, and Axel was able to catch them before they could hit him.

Within moments of the fight, Axel had begun to spin fire around the chakrams. The fight was growing more and more dangerous, but Roxas seemed to be growing more determined. As the fire around the chakrams faded away, Axel turned away from Roxas and glanced at Tria. Within moments, he had dashed over to her and grabbed her arm.

"Tria!" Roxas cried.

"Are you ready to cooperate?" Axel asked Roxas.

Roxas looked back and forth between Axel and Tria. He had a look of fear on his face.

"Tria!" Roxas roared. "Catch!"

Roxas sent his Keyblade hurling towards his sister. Tria quickly caught the weapon with her free hand, and struck Axel with it. Axel grunted in pain and released her arm. Tria dashed away from him as Roxas ran towards her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." Tria replied. "WATCH OUT!"

Axel had recovered quickly, and was now shooting fireballs at them. The twins lept apart, narrowly avoiding being burnt.

"Roxas!" Tria called. She sent the Keyblade spinning towards her brother, knocking Axel to the ground in the process.

Roxas caught the Keyblade. "Good one!"

Tria grinned at him, but began running as soon as she could. Axel had recovered once again and was now shooting fire at them.

"Hey, Tria!" Roxas shouted from across the stage.

"What's up, Roxas?" Tria replied.

"You feeling up to a nice game of...catch?"

"Bring it!" Tria roared. Before Axel could dart out of the way, Roxas had struck him with the Keyblade as it spiraled through the air towards Tria. Tria caught it and instantly sent it flying back towards Roxas before Axel could recover. They sent the Keyblade flying between them several times, until Roxas caught it once more. Axel growled and stood up. He did not, however, send more fireballs at Roxas or Tria. Surprised, they turned to see what he was staring at.

Another man had appeared at the scene. He could not have appeared any different from Axel, however. He was tall, and his face was wrapped in red cloth. He wore a red cloak which surrounded most of him; his front revealed that he was wearing a long black robe with several other clothes as well as belts. One of the belts had several pouches. Such a mysterious man had never been seen in Twilight Town, excluding Axel.

"So it was you." Axel spat as Roxas and Tria reunited near the center of the stage. Axel send his chakrams, spinning with fire, at the man, but they vanished once they approached him. The man turned to face Roxas and Tria.

"Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!" The man said in a powerful voice.

"Roxas, don't let him deceive you!" Axel called.

"Roxas!" The man in red roared.

"Roxas!" Axel shouted.

Roxas and Tria backed away as the air was filled with the two men shouting Roxas's name. Roxas covered his ears and closed his eyes, trying to escape the noise.

"Hayner...Pence...Olette..." He whispered as the voices grew louder. "Hayner! Pence! Olette!" He shouted. Suddenly, the calling of his name changed into a loud roar. Whistles and cheers could be heard. Roxas opened his eyes, and saw that everything was back to normal.

"What the..." Roxas whispered, looking around as the crowd gathered cheered. He turned quickly and saw that Tria was standing next to him, looking just as confused as him.

"The match is over!" Mr. Perkins announced. "That was quite a unique ending! Everyone, please wait as we count our contenstant's orbs!"

Roxas and Tria turned to face each other. Both had looks of extreme confusion on their faces.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, well!" Mr. Perkins announced. "Never in my years of announcing this tournament have I seen a battle so close! By 4 orbs, the winner is Roxas!"

Roxas and Tria waved nervously to the crowds as Mr. Perkins handed Roxas his trophy.

"What a finish to a fabulous Struggle!" Mr. Perkins called. "Looks like the twins are going to have to wow us next year too!"

The crowd continued to roar. Mr. Perkins smiled.

"Sadly, we do have to wait another year." He shouted. "Until then, folks, looks like we have a new champion!"

Hayner, Olette and Pence were cheering the loudest. They cheered both Roxas's and Tria's names.

"I hope you enjoyed the tournament!" Mr. Perkins announced. "Have a great rest of the summer, and please pick up your litter on the way out."

Roxas and Tria looked up at Mr. Perkins, confused at such a formal closing statement. Shrugging, Roxas carried the Five Crystal Trophy over to his friends, and Tria carried the basket full of the other 'fabulous prizes' he had one. Most of them were nothing more than 50 munny gift cards to various shops around town, but they'd won a 500-munny gift card to the ice cream shop.

The 5 friends, laughing and chatting, headed off to the station tower. When they'd reached the top, they sat on the edge of the tower as they usually did. Roxas held the trophy they'd won up to the light. It was a deep blue trophy that had 'branches'...each branch held a different colored orb at the end of it. Roxas snapped off the yellow orb, and tossed it to Olette. Hayner caught the red orb, and Pence hastily caught the green orb. Roxas took off the purple orb and handed it to Tria, who was sitting next to him. Tria smiled and held the orb up to the light. Roxas snapped off the blue orb and set the trophy on the edge of the tower. Following Tria's example, the friends held each of their orbs up to the soft light of the sun. Each friend now had an orb of their favorite color...proof of their strong bond.

"Thanks a ton, Roxas!" Pence said cheerfully.

"One more treasure for us to share." Hayner added.

"I've got a present, too." Olette said, reaching down. When she sat up, she had 5 Sea-Salt Ice Creams in her hand.

Roxas jumped up in glee. "All right!" He cheered. After such a hard day, nothing would be more refreshing than...

Roxas misplaced his foot on the edge of the station tower as he prepared to sit back down. He slipped, and despite efforts to regain his balance, he fell from the tower seconds later.

"Roxas!" Tria called, reaching down to grab his hand. She was too late, however, as her brother was too far down to help. She could only watch, helpless, as he fell...

---Fans: Sora53, don't even say it.  
Sora53: But...it's a dun dun dun moment!  
Fans: NO IT'S NOT! -goes back to watching Sora play KH2-  
Sora: Oooh, we're at Disney Castle! AWESOME! -squeal-  
Corita: O-o Sora, are you okay?  
Sora: I'm fine! -eye twitch-  
Corita: Sora, you've played enough!  
Sora53: Hey! You stole that from me anyway!  
Sora: -shifty eyes- PROVE IT! -runs away screaming-


	5. The Old Mansion

Sora53: Whoot! Guess what I did!  
Fans: Oooh! Did you figure out how to tie your shoes?  
Sora53: Okay, you know what? JUST because I couldn't tie my shoes until I was 8 DOESN'T MEAN...  
Corita: Erm, Sora53? Before you embarass yourself, just tell us what you did.  
Sora53: I beat Kingdom Hearts 2 on Proud Mode at level 99! -ish proud-  
Joe: That's all? Corita could beat you!  
Corita: O-O I could?  
Fans: -microphone falls from sky- It's time for the rumble of the century! Who has a better save file? Sora53...or Corita?  
Everyone: -wild applause-  
Sora53: O-o 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Tria and Corita. Sadly, Mr. Perkins is not in this chapter. I know how much everyone luffs him.

"Naminé...what's happening to me?" Roxas wondered to himself. As he fell, the world around him grew fuzzy and dark. It seemed as if he was slowing down as he fell, and he closed his eyes.

"Who are you?" A surprised voice responded. "And that's not my name. I'm Kairi."

"Kairi..." Roxas wondered. "I know you! You're that girl he likes..."

"Who?" Kairi responded. "Please, a name!"

"I'm Roxas." Roxas said.

"Okay, Roxas." Kairi answered. "But can you tell me HIS name?"

"You don't remember? Thanks a lot, Kairi! Hmm...I guess I can give you a hint." Roxas replied. "Starts with an 'S'..."

After that, Roxas completely blacked out. Kairi's voice vanished, and everything around him went dark and silent.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roxas awoke with a start. Looking wildly around, he saw that he was lying in his bed. With a sigh, he slowly sat up and stared out the window. Once again, his sleep had been plagued by dreams of Sora and his friends. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and rose out of bed. He ambled around his room, getting dressed and taking a moment to recall what had happened yesterday. Hadn't he fallen off the station tower?

"Tria!" Roxas called, opening his door and making his way to his sister's room.

"Yes?" Tria's voice answered from inside the room. She didn't sound too happy.

"...Are you okay?" Roxas asked.

Tria opened her door. Roxas saw that she, too, was fully dressed. It looked like she'd been awake for a while already. Tria had always been an early riser.

"I'm fine." She replied. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."

"What happened yesterday?" Roxas asked. "I fell off the tower, didn't I?"

"Hmm..." Tria said, thinking. "I remember that, too...or was that a dream?"

"What do you mean?" Roxas cried. "I don't think something like that would be hard to forget!"

"After you fell, everything went...fuzzy." Tria said slowly. "I can't remember anything after that..."

Roxas sighed. "What is going on with me...?"

"You?" Tria asked. "What about me?"

"You?" Roxas said. "What's happening to you?"

"Wait...what's happening to you?" Tria asked.

"Nothing." Roxas said quicky.

"Well, then nothing's been happening to me, either." Tria replied even quicker.

The twins stared at each other for a moment.

"Erm..." Roxas said slowly. "Why don't I go first...?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roxas and Tria were sitting at their kitchen table, talking. Tria was eating cereal slowly as she listened to Roxas's tale. He told her about everything: the dreams, the Keyblade, the white creatures, his encounter with Kairi, and the mysterious girl named Naminé.

Tria ate her cereal slowly as she listened to her brother. After she'd finished, Roxas listened to her as she told him about what had been happening to her. She, too, had been having strange dreams; hers did not revolve around Sora, however. Hers were more focused on Sora's sister, Corita.

"What else?" Roxas asked.

"Well, I certainly haven't been swinging a giant house key around, that's for sure." Tria responded. "But there was this one time...I was on this weird platform, and I had this staff...and a bunch of those creatues were attacking me..."

"Wait...did a GIANT thing attack you?"

"No...but it was just a dream. Wasn't it?"

Roxas shook his head. "I have NO idea."

Tria sighed and leaned back in her chair. "This doesn't make any sense...we're having dreams about the same thing, we're being attacked by weird creatures, and you have a guy who uses WAY too much hair gel stalking you!"

"Oh, no!" Roxas cried, looking at the clock. "Tria, we're really late! Today's the day we hit the beach, right?"

"Huh?" Tria asked, looking at the clock. "Uh oh...let's go!"

The twins lept up and dashed out of the house. Roxas lept on his skateboard, and Tria followed him as they sped down the hill towards the Usual Spot. Tria's riding had improved greatly, and she managed to follow Roxas all the way there without crashing into anything. Once they reached their destination, they saw that Hayner, Pence, and Olette were waiting for them.

"Sorry, guys." Tria said. "Roxas overslept again."

"Hey!" Roxas said.

"It's alright." Olette said, showing them her homemade pouch. "We have 6000 munny! Plenty for the trip. And it's still early, so we'll have plenty of time there!"

"Sweet!" Pence cheered, looking at the pouch.

"Here. Since you overslept, you can bear the responsibility of holding the money." Olette told him happily. Roxas took the pouch and placed it in his pocket.

"Ready?" Hanyer asked impatiently. "We've gotta get there before they sell all the Sea-Salt Ice Cream!"

Hayner, Pence and Olette led the group to the station. Roxas skated slowly behind them, and Tria skated along behind him. The station wasn't far at all from the Usual Spot, and they got there within 5 minutes.

"Hey, not bad." Roxas complimented Tria as she stopped skating and stood next to him. Hayner, Pence and Olette had gone ahead into the station to find out when the next train was coming in.

"Thanks!" Tria said cheerfully as she picked up her board. "We should go in...they'll need the money to pay for the tickets..."

Roxas and Tria headed off together towards the station. After a few steps, Roxas lost his footing; he tripped and fell to the ground.

"Roxas!" Tria cried, bending down to help him up. She was knocked away, however, by a tall, cloaked figure.

"Hey!" Roxas said angrily, preparing to leap up. He was roughly dragged up by the man, though, who whispered something to him once he was off the ground.

"What?" Roxas replied to the man. He didn't respond, and Roxas heard Hayner calling him.

"Roxas! Tria!" Hayner shouted. Roxas looked away from the man towards his best friend, and saw that they were running towards him.

"Wha...Tria?" Roxas cried, looking to his side. Tria was kneeling on the ground next to him, rubbing her head. Roxas stepped over to her and helped her up.

"T...thanks..." Tria said, her voice shaking.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"3 minutes, you two." Hanyer said.

"No problem!" Roxas answered, and they all headed towards the station.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Never trust a guy who oversleeps..." Pence sighed.

"No!" Roxas cried, digging through his pockets. "It was just here!"

"Maybe...it fell out when you were skateboarding?" Olette suggested.

"I was skating right behind him. I would've noticed." Tria said.

"That...that guy!" Roxas cried. "He took it!"

"What guy?" Hayner asked, his voice slightly angry.

"Remember when I fell? I had the money before that. I bet that guy took it!"

"What guy?" Pence asked.

"The guy who knocked me away from Roxas! Remember?" Tria explained. "Tall? Black coat?"

"There was no guy." Hayner said. "Roxas...you just fell and knocked Tria down with you."

"But...he..." Roxas stuttered.

"There wasn't? Really?" Tria asked desparately.

Hayner, Pence and Olette turned away from the twins to watch the train to the beach depart. Hayner sighed and hung his head as the train pulled out of the station.

"Hey, don't worry, guys!" Olette said cheerfully. "That means we can get that homework report done!"

Hayner and Pence exchanged looks of disgust.

"C'mon, guys. We have to get it done." Olette said, walking back to Roxas and Tria. She reached into her pocket and took out a sheet.

"Argh! Olette, what are you trying to do to us?" Hayner asked as he looked down on the sheet.

"We're doing a report on the seven wonders of Twilight Town." She explained. "I already have it all mapped out. You, me, and Pence are heading to Sunset Station to investigate the wonders there. Roxas, Tria, you two are set to check out that mysterious mansion."

"What wonder is at the mansion?" Tria asked.

"They say there's a girl that appears at the second story window." Pence explained. "Olette, can't we do it tommo-"

"NO!" Olette said firmly, folding up the paper. "We get this done TODAY!"

"YES, MA'AM!" Hayner and Pence said quickly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Olette really scares me sometimes." Roxas admitted.

"She can be a bit forceful, but we do have to get this stupid assignment done, right?" Tria said.

"I suppose so...here's the entrance."

The old mansion was hidden deep in the woods surrounding Twilight Town. They could only be reached through a large hole in the tram common wall. Roxas and Tria were now headed through the woods to get there.

"So, there's a girl who appears at the second floor window, huh?" Roxas wondered.

"Apparantly." Tria replied. "Even though no one's lived there for years..."

The two reached the gate of the mansion, and looked up at the building. It was incredibly old, and sides of the mansion were crumbling. They stared up at the window that Pence had told them about. Nothing mysterious appeared.

Within a few moments, however, the area around them faded into white. Roxas closed his eyes, as did his sister. When they opened their eyes, they saw that they were looking around a strange room.

"Where is this?" Tria's voice echoed through the room. White walls surrounded them, and a large table was set in the center. On the walls were several strange drawings. There were pictures of an island, a red-haired girl with a large yellow star-shaped fruit...

"Roxas. Tria." said a soft voice.

"Naminé?" Roxas responded automatically. Roxas looked around the room, but he didn't see anyone.

"Roxas, look at this." Tria's voice said. Roxas turned to where her voice came from, and saw another drawing. There were 4 cloaked figures; the 2 in the foreground were facing the other 2. One, with his spiked red hair, was clearly Axel. The other...

"This is...me?" Roxas wondered. "And Axel's here, too..."

"You ARE best friends..." Naminé said softly.

"Very funny." Tria replied to her.

"Don't you want to know the truth?" Naminé asked. "About who you really are?"

"No one knows the truth better than we do." Tria responded.

"Of course." Naminé's voice said.

"Though...it would be nice to know what's been happening lately." Roxas said.

"You've got a point there." Tria's voice agreed. There was another drawing near the one of Roxas and Axel. It had 4 different figures that the previous one, yet they were familiar...

"You know these four, right?" Naminé asked.

"Yeah!" Roxas said. "There's Sora, and Goofy..."

"And that's Donald...and Corita..." Tria said.

"They're from the dreams." Roxas added.

"About a year ago..." Naminé said slowly after a few moments, "some things happened...I had to take apart the memories chained together in Sora's heart. But now I'm putting them all back exactly the way they were. As for Corita...she was separated from Sora, Donald, and Goofy. I had to lock her heart away from the darkness that was threatening her heart. It's taken me a long time, but pretty soon they'll both be their old selves again. The process of this has been affecting you both."

"You mean...the dreams?" Roxas wondered.

"Yes." Naminé said. "You and Sora are connected, just as you, Tria, and Corita are connected. In order for them both to be whole again...they need you."

"What? What for?" Tria asked.

"You hold half of what Corita is." Naminé explained, "Just as Roxas holds half of what Sora is. They need you two."

Everything around them went white once again. Within a few moments, they appeared in the room, rather than merely being there in spirit. Roxas and Tria were seated at one end of the long table in the center of the room, and Naminé was seated at the other end.

"Naminé...who are you?" Roxas asked.

"I'm a witch with power over Sora's memories and those around him." Naminé explained.

"A witch?" Roxas asked.

"Well...that's what DiZ called me." Naminé replied. "But I don't know why I have this power...I just do. I'm not even sure there's a right way for me to use it..."

"Hmm...can't help you there." Roxas said. "But it's funny...suddenly I feel like I don't know myself at all..."

"Same here." Tria said. She was turned slightly in her chair, looking at several other drawings on the wall. "I guess...we would like to know."

"What do you know about us that we don't?" Roxas asked. Tria turned back to face her after this statement. They both watched Naminé for a few moments.

"You..." she said slowly, "You two were never supposed to exist."

"W-what...?" Tria stuttered.

"How could you even say such a thing..." Roxas said softly, "even if it were true?"

"I'm sorry." Naminé said sadly. "I guess some things really are better left unsaid."

At that moment, the room was once again filled with a blinding white light. The next thing either of the twins knew, they were back in front of the mansion, staring up at the second floor window.

"Huh? Wha?" Tria said. "What...just happened?"

"You just met Naminé." Roxas said softly.

"Well, I guess I understood that she was Naminé...considering you kept calling her that."

"Yeah..." Roxas laughed.

"Hey...look up at the window."

Roxas turned his head to stare up at the second floor window. He and Tria stared at it for at least a full minute before a familiar voice greeted them from behind.

"Aw, man." Pence complained. Roxas and Tria jumped and turned quickly to see that Pence was meandering towards them, licking a Sea-Salt Ice Cream.

"Nothing but the curtains moving." He muttered as he handed Roxas and Tria ice creams. "There must be a draft somewhere. I'm surprised this old place even has curtains."

"...Yeah." Roxas replied.

"Well, let's head back to the usual spot." Pence said cheerfully. "Hayner and Olette are waiting."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How'd it go, you guys?" Olette asked as Pence, Tria and Roxas tottered into the Usual Spot.

"The girl in the window turned out to be a curtain flapping in the wind." Pence complained.

"Figures." Olette muttered. "The report's already done, anyway."

"Awesome!" Pence cheered. Roxas and Tria, on the other hand, didn't appear too cheery. They both appeared lost in thought.

"Hey!" Hayner said, snapping his fingers in front of their faces. "What's wrong?"

"They must be sad about the munny." Pence suggested.

"Don't worry about it, guys." Hayner said. "We'll be able to earn enough to get to the beach and then some! Don't worry your pretty little heads over it."

"T-thanks." Tria said slowly, lifting her head.

Hayner gave her a grin. "Now...who's up for some more ice cream?"

"MORE ice cream?" Roxas asked. "We just had some!"

"Ice cream heals all wounds." Hayner said in a mock serious tone. "Meet at the station tower with ice cream in hand!"

"Wait...the station tower!" Roxas shouted, causing his friends to inch away from him. "I fell off the tower yesterday, didn't I?"

Pence looked at him strangely. "You wouldn't be here if you did, Roxas!"

"What?" Tria said, shocked. "You all saw him! I tried to grab him, but he lost his footing..."

"Then I fell!" Roxas said. "Didn't...I?"

"We need to fill this bonehead up with ice cream, and quick." Olette said jokingly. "Last one to the tower buys the ice cream tommorow!" Hayner, Pence and Olette dashed out of the Usual Spot, leaving Roxas and Tria behind.

"Roxas..." Tria said slowly. "What's happening?"

"I wish I could say." Roxas answered, watching his friends as they left him.

Sora53: Proud Mode. Level 99. All worlds complete. 89 percent of Jiminy's Proud Mode.  
Corita: Level 99. All worlds complete. 87 percent of Jiminy's Journal, and 76 percent of Gummi Routes.  
Fans: Really? Sora53, would you care to share your Gummi Route completion percentage with us?  
Sora53: Erm...I'd rather not.  
Joe: Corita wins!  
Sora53: No, she doesn't! It's...eight.  
Roxas: -falls out of chair laughing- 8 PERCENT! -laughs-  
Joe: Mah best friend Corita wins! -hands out Sea-Salt Ice Creams-  
Sora53: But...you don't even actually exist! You can't play Kingdom Hearts 2!  
Corita: Yes, I can. I need to keep up with what you're doing to poor Roxas and Tria, and what you'll be doing to me. Wait a second, am I really Joe's best friend? O-o  
Sora53: Grr...


	6. A Nobody's fate

---Sora53: -yawn-  
Fans: What's wrong, Sora53? Tired?  
Sora53: Maybe. I've been staying up late because I'm on vacation XD  
Corita: Nothing more fun than staying up late. I brought the caffinated soda and sugar sticks!  
Sora53/Fans: EEEH!  
Joe: Corita, my darling!  
Corita: Yes, Joe?  
Joe: Did you bring anything sweet for me? Besides you, of course.  
Corita: -rolls eyes- -dumps sugar stick on his head-  
Joe: Oooh! I have sugar in my hair!  
Roxas: You're weird. -eats ice cream covered in sugar-  
Sora53: And yes, I know that many of you have been questioning me about Corita and Tria. Well...there's a method to my madness. And yes, it all works out. Because I'm cool like that XD Sadly, you'll probably have to wait for everything to make sense...good things come to those who wait!  
Roxas: Like ice cream?  
Sora53: Erm...sure.

Disclaimer: I still own nothing but my OCs. I don't even own any sugar sticks...-sob-

Tria yawned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her dreams had once again been filled with visions of Corita, Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Her most recent set of dreams involved everything from several thalassa shells to a large hotel myseriously named 'Hotel Corita'. Stretching, she got out of bed, dressed quickly, and hurried out of her room. She walked down the hall and knocked on her brother's door.

"Roxas." Tria called. "Time to get up."

Tria heard Roxas mumbling quietly, getting out of his bed and fumbling around his room. Within a few minutes, the door opened, and Roxas's sleepy face appeared.

"Are you okay?" Tria asked.

"Eh...I'm just not feeling myself today." Roxas said in a tired voice.

"Well, it's time to rise and shine." Tria said cheerfully. "Tommorow's the last day of summer vacation, and...Roxas?"

Roxas had fallen asleep again, his head leaning on the doorframe.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Man, I don't know about you, but I could not get to sleep last night." Roxas said to Tria as they slowly skateboarded towards the Usual Spot.

"I kinda got the fact that you couldn't sleep from how you fell asleep during breakfast. Twice." Tria commented. "More dreams?"

"Of course." Roxas sighed. "I wish I knew what they meant."

"Tell me about it. Well, maybe a long day hanging out with your friends will tire you out enough so you won't have any more dreams."

"I hope the same goes for you."

They had reached the Usual Spot, and they came to a halt. Picking up their skateboards, they walked in. Hayner, Pence and Olette were standing in a circle, talking and laughing.

"Hey, guys." Tria said cheerfully.

The three of them, however, didn't respond. Roxas and Tria exchanged miffed looks.

"Guys?" Roxas said a little louder.

"GUYS!" Tria yelled, reaching out her hand to bonk Hayner on the back of his head. Her hand, instead of teaching Hayner a painful lesson, went through him as if he were a ghost.

"AGH!" Tria screamed, leaping back. She inched forward again, and tried poking him in the back. Nothing happened.

Roxas reached out to try and touch them as well, but at that moment Hayner, Pence and Olette turned and ran out of the Usual Spot, dashing right through Roxas and Tria as if they weren't even there.

Roxas and Tria looked at each other again. Roxas looked at her for a moment, then looked past her. He let out a gasp, and Tria turned to look at what he saw.

Roxas was staring at the photo that he, Tria, and their friends had taken in front of the old mansion. It had once held a picture of all 5 of them staring back, smiling and cheerful. Now, however, the places where Roxas and Tria had once stood next to each other were blank, as if they'd never really been in the picture.

"Okay, things have been pretty weird this week." Tria said, walking up to the photo and looking at it closely. "But this has reached an all-time weird."

"Tell me about it." Roxas said, giving a small shudder. "Should we follow them?"

"Yeah..."

The twins turned to leave the Usual Spot as fast as they could. They dashed out and into the alley, then realized that they had no idea which way Hayner, Pence and Olette had gone.

"Why don't I go this way, and you go that way?" Tria suggested, pointing to the different paths the alley took.

"Alright. Meet back here in 10 minutes."

Tria walked one way, and Roxas walked the other. Within moments, though, they were both running back towards each other.

"Ack! Not these things again!" Tria cried. They were surrounded on all sides by the same strange creatures that had attacked them during the Struggle. Before Roxas could summon his Keyblade and attack them, however, a dark shroud had appeared in front of the entrance to the Usual Spot. In seconds, Axel had appeared there, and the darkness around him faded. Roxas and Tria stood close to each other, watching him.

"It's come to this." Axel said to them in an almost sad. "Roxas, I've been given this icky orders to destroy you...if you refuse to come back with me."

Tria made a sour face. "What, I'M not good enough to destroy?"

Axel looked at her. "Don't worry. If Roxas doesn't cooperate, I'd be happy to destroy you too."

Roxas stared at Axel for a moment. "We're...best friends, right?"

"Sure." Axel muttered. "But I'm not gonna be turned into a Dusk for...wait a second! You remember now?" He said in an excited tone.

Roxas slowly nodded his head. Axel watched him for a few seconds.

"That's great!" Axel said happily. "But you know, I've gotta make sure, so...what's our boss's name?"

Roxas hung his head. Axel waited a few moments before giving a huge sigh. "I can't believe this..." He muttered. He snapped his fingers, and the creatures around Roxas and Tria began to circle them. Roxas summoned his Keyblade, and quickly began to attack them. The enemies were taken care of even faster than before; Roxas was clearly getting better. Roxas quickly lept back into place next to Tria. Axel gave another sigh before readying his chakrams and preparing to throw them towards the twins. His arm, however, hung in midair, motionless. Roxas slowly lowered his Keyblade, and he and Tria moved towards him.

"What happened to him?" Tria asked, poking Axel in the head.

"No idea..." Roxas said softly.

"Roxas! Tria!" A booming yet familiar voice called to them. "To the mansion! The time has come!"

"Who's there?" Tria called. The air hung around them, silent once more.

"That voice...it sounded familiar...who was that?" Roxas wondered.

"Dunno." Tria told him. "Well...I guess it's the only lead we have, so...to the mansion?"

"To the mansion..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the twins headed through Twilight Town and through the woods, they were relentlessly attacked by the same creatures that had been haunting them for the past few days. They constantly had to stop so Roxas could pummel them with the Keyblade. When they reached the gate to the old mansion, they were completely surrounded, not to mention the gate to the mansion was locked tight.

"Man, don't call us then lock us out..." Tria muttered. "Roxas, do something!"

"What? Why me? Why am I always -"

"YOU HAVE A GIANT KEY!"

"Oh...right!"

Roxas held the Keyblade up, pointing it directly at the lock. The creatues continued to circle them menacingly as the lock vanished, and the twins ran towards the mansion as fast as they could. They ran inside quickly and closed the door, protecting them from the white creatures following them in. Panting, they saw that there was a large staircase ahead of them. They walked up it in silence, observing their surroundings. The mansion's inside, much like the outside, was tan in color, and the light from the setting sun filled the area with a soft glow. They reached the top, and saw that they could go either left or right.

"Which way?" Tria asked.

"Erm...left?" Roxas suggested. Tria nodded, and they walked along the top of the stairs towards the door. They entered, and Tria closed the door behind them. The room was strangely familiar...

"This is Naminé's room, isn't it?" Tria wondered. Roxas nodded. The twins separated, walking along different walls and looking at different pictures. Roxas's eyes moved to one in particular...and he blacked out.

Roxas saw himself walking along an empty street in an empty city...everything around him was dark. He was wearing a dark cloak...

"Your mind's made up?" A voice asked. Roxas turned his head slightly and saw that Axel was leaning against a wall near the street.

"Why did the Keyblade choose me?" Roxas heard himself ask. "I have to know."

"You can't turn on the Organization!" Axel yelled.

"Roxas! Are you okay?" He heard someone yell.

Roxas blinked. He was back in the white room. Blinking again, he turned and saw that Tria was standing above him, a look of concern on her face.

"I'm fine." Roxas said in a shaky tone. Looking away from Tria, Roxas saw that Naminé was seated at the table in the center once again.

"Organization XIII..." Roxas said to Naminé. "They're a bad group."

"Bad, or good. I don't know." Naminé responded truthfully. "They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something."

"What?" Tria asked.

"Kingdom Hearts."

Roxas gave a soft chuckle.

"Funny?" Naminé asked.

Roxas walked towards the table. "It's just...I think I've been running away from the question I really wanna ask: what's gonna happen to me now?"

Tria walked forward to stand next to her brother. Naminé looked at them both.

"Just tell me that...nothing else really matters anymore."

"You are..." Naminé began, but after she said that, she began to fade away. Roxas and Tria watched as Naminé vanished before their eyes. After she had vanished, the red-robed man that had appeared before them during the Struggle appeared behind her chair.

"There is no knowledge that has the power to change fate." He told them coldly.

"Even if it doesn't, we wanna know." Roxas said bitterly. "We have the right to know!"

He looked at them with an almost amused look. "A Nobody doesn't have a right to know. Nor does it even have the right to be."

"What IS a Nobody?" Tria asked angrily.

Another man appeared in a flash of darkness next to the man in red. He was wearing a black robe similar to Axel's; his hood was covering his face, however.

"DiZ, we're out of time. Too many Nobodies!" The new figure said to the red-cloaked man, who must've been DiZ. Next to DiZ, a portal of darkness appeared, and Naminé stood in front of it.

"Roxas! Tria!" She said quickly. "Nobodies like us are only half a person. You won't disappear! You'll be whole!"

"No further outbursts!" DiZ said fiercely as he walked towards Naminé. He grabbed her arm from behind, and placed his other hand over her mouth. Roxas and Tria ran forward to help her, but they were stopped by the man in the black coat.

"Don't worry! We will meet again!" Naminé said quickly as she pulled DiZ's hand off of her mouth. "And then we can talk about everything! I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me...but we will meet again. Someday soon. I promise!"

"Let her go!" Roxas cried as she and DiZ vanished into the darkness. Soon, they were gone as well as the man in the black coat. Roxas and Tria stood in silence for a moment.

"Erm...I guess it's bad that we went left?" Tria wondered meekly.

"I'm not sure." Roxas told her. "Well...I guess there's nothing else to do but go right..."

The twins opened the door, and headed back into the hallway. They were still puzzled by Naminé's final words, however...it didn't take them long to reach the second door. When they entered, they saw that the area around them was similar to the previous room. There were a set of stairs, however, that led down into a mysteriously mechanical-looking area. Roxas and Tria nervously headed down the stairs, and into the only door they could. This door led into a small room, dimly lit except for the buzz of a large computer with many screens in the corner. Roxas and Tria walked over to it. As Roxas looked at the screens, he began to black out once again, and he remembered...

"Why? Why do you have the Keyblade?" A silver-haired figure, knocked on the ground, cried.

Roxas shook his head. "Shut up!" He swung at him with the weapon, but the figure recovere quickly and knocked Roxas flying backwards by the force of his own attack. The figure walked towards him...

Roxas was sitting under a stange machine in the same room he was currently in...and 2 people were talking about him. The people...they were familiar...

"Will it work?" The black-coated man asked.

"If we can maintain the simulated town until Naminé finishes chaining together Sora's memories. She's been doing an excellent job so far with Tria."

"What will happen to Roxas?"

"He holds half of Sora's power within him. In the end, he'll have to give it back. Until then, he'll need another personality to throw off his pursuers. He'll fit in excellently in the town...after all, he has a sister waiting for him."

"Poor things."

"It's the fate of a Nobody." DiZ said coldly as he began punching information into the computer. The machine above Roxas sent out a beam of light, and Roxas vanished.

The next thing Roxas knew, he was back in the present. He faintly heard Tria calling his name, but that didn't matter now...all that mattered was that computer...that vile computer...it was right in front of him.

Roxas gave a roar of rage, and summoned the Keyblade into his hand. He brought it down as hard as he could, smashing into one of the screens. He swung the Keyblade again, smashing another screen in. He continued until he'd smashed almost all of the screens. He turned when he heard Tria shouting his name.

"Tria..." He panted. "This computer...this..._thing_..."

"I know, Roxas." Tria said in a soothing voice. She grabbed the Keyblade away from him a second later, and before Roxas could stop her, she began smashing in the rest of the screens he'd left untouched. As she smashed in the screens, Roxas watched. It dawned on him that she was the only one who could understand what was happening to him...

"There." Tria said in a satisfied tone, handing the Keyblade back to Roxas. "THAT'S how you smash up a computer."

Roxas smiled. "I'll remember that."

Sora53: -is sugar high-  
Corita: -is sugar high-  
Fans: -is sugar...who are we kidding, they couldn't get sugar high if they wanted to. They're too BITTER!-  
Roxas: Wow, that description was surprisingly accurate!  
Fans: We are NOT bitter!  
Joe: Actually, you kinda are.  
Sora: Who things the Fans are bitter?  
Everyone: -raises hand-  
Fans: Oh, so that's how it's gonna be? We have feelings, too, you know...  
Sora53: Yeah, they're just all bitter.


	7. Awakening

Sora53: Hey, everyone. This chappie is a tad later than usual...I would've posted it yesterday, but I was painting my room XD  
Fans: -sigh-  
Sora53: Okay, what can be depressing about paint?  
Fans: -sigh-  
Sora53: Man, you guys are annoying sometimes.  
Joe: Maybe they just need a hug! XD  
Fans: Hug us and die.  
Joe: Man, you guys are bitter.  
Corita: I BAKED COOKIES!  
Roxas: Are you going into Mary-Sue mode?  
Corita: Naw. If I was in Mary-Sue mode, the cookies would have to taste good.  
Fans: THESE COOKIES ARE NASTY! 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Tria and Corita...and her nasty cookies O.o

They looked at the ruins of the computer for a few moments, absorbing the joy that had come from demolishing it. One thing was clear to them: it would never work again. A mechanical whirring noise came from behind them, and they turned to see that another door was slowly opening.

"Let's go." Roxas said boldly, still carrying his Keyblade. He and his sister abandoned the computer and walked to the now fully open door. They both went in, and saw that it opened into a larger room. Like the previous area, this room was a mysteriously mechanical-looking area, and very dimly lit. There was, however, already someone in the room, waiting for them.

"Simply amazing, Roxas." Axel said bitterly, pacing back and forth across from them.

"Axel." Roxas responded softly as the door behind him and Tria snapped shut.

Axel stopped pacing. He now stood directly across from the two of them. He turned to face them. "You really do remember me this time? I'm SO FLATTERED!"

Flames erupted all around them; Roxas and Tria bunched together and moved several feet forward to avoid being touched by the fire. "But you're too late!" Axel roared angrily, gathering flames around him and summoning his weapons into his hands.

Tria inched away from her brother, knowing that he would need the space to summon his Keyblade and fight Axel.

"Just my luck." She muttered to herself. "I'm stuck in this circle of fire without a...weapon?" She said, curious. She had looked down to see that her brother now had 2 Keyblades, one black and one white.

"Two!" Axel said in shock. He spun fire around his chakrams, and threw them at the twins. Roxas easily blocked them, and lept away from Tria.

"YOU KEYBLADE HOG!" Tria yelled. Roxas grinned at her, and she grinned back.

"Watch out!" Roxas yelled, running in front of her and knocking away another attack by Axel. "Here." He said, handing her the white Keyblade.

"Thanks." Tria said. "Think we can take him?"

"It'll be good practice for the Struggle next year." Roxas responded. At that moment, several fireballs flew in their direction, and they broke apart once again. Axel, deciding that Roxas was more of a threat, turned to attack him. Axel and Roxas fought in close combat until Tria lept towards Axel and hit him several times with her Keyblade. Axel turned to face her, and Roxas quickly hit him with his Keyblade. Again, Axel turned back to face Roxas, and was immediately beaten on by Tria.

Axel gave a roar of rage and turned to leap into the flames behind him.

"Ha! Nobody can beat the twin terrors!" Tria said cheerfully. "Axel's such a pushov-"

A powerful jet of fire shot out between Roxas and Tria. When it faded away, they looked at each other for a moment.

"SCATTER!" Roxas shouted, and they ran in opposite directions. Jets of flame shot out where they had been standing moments before.

"Hot...hot..." Tria panted, stopping for a moment to take a few deep breaths. The temperature in the circle of flames had increased dramatically since the beginning of the battle.

"Roxas! There!" She shouted, pointing to a spot in the circle of flames. A shadow was visible amongs the fire, and Roxas lept towards it, slicing at the fire with his Keyblade. Axel tumbled out of the fire, and they both clashed together. Roxas seemed to be struggling until Tria tossed the Keyblade back to him. He quickly caught it and beat Axel back effortlessly. Axel fell to the ground, and the flames around them seemed to weaken. Axel seemed to be weakening quickly.

"Thanks." Roxas said gratefully, running back to her and giving her the Keyblade back.

"Oh, no problem." Tria said with a smile. Axel took this chance to shoot more fire at them, but it was knocked away by Tria. The twins split up again, and took turns slicing at Axel. Having been severely weakened by Roxas's dual Keyblade attack, Axel quickly succumbed to fatigue. He slouched over, and the flames surrounding them began to fade away. He dropped his chakrams, and they vanished into flames when they hit the ground.

Suddenly, Roxas remembered...

"You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!" Axel called out to him. The city was still dark, and Axel's voice was getting increasingly desparate.

"No one would miss me." Roxas said sadly. He continued walking, leaving behind one of his only friends in the world.

"That's not true...I would." Axel said mournfully as Roxas walked away from him.

As the flashback faded away, Roxas blinked and saw before him one of the only people in the world that had ever cared for him.

"Axel..." Roxas said slowly.

Axel looked up at him. "Let's meet again in the next life."

"Yeah." Roxas said, nodding. "I'll be waiting."

"Silly." Axel said jokingly as darkness surrounded him. "Just because you have a next life..."

Darkness covered him, and he vanished into thin air. Roxas and Tria moved forward to where he had vanished. Tria turned to face Roxas.

"Roxas...what is..."

"I'll explain later." He said. "Right now, we have to keep going."

Tria nodded boldly, and they turned away from where Axel'd vanished. Another door stood at the other side of the room, and they moved towards it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door led, not into another room, but a strange hallway. Thankfully, it was much better lit than the previous areas. There were tall, strange flower-shaped machines lined up along the wall. About halfway in, the hallway took a small turn.

Roxas and Tria were walking side by side, until Roxas stopped in his tracks. Tria turned to see what had made him stop, and she saw why instantly.

"This is..." She whispered slowly. "...Donald?"

"And...Goofy?" Roxas said as they looked up at 2 of the flower-shaped pods. Donald and Goofy were suspended in them, and they appeared to be asleep.

"So...if Donald and Goofy are here..." Tria said thoughtfully.

"That means Sora and Corita are, too." Roxas finished. "We're almost there."

Turning away from Donald and Goofy was hard, but they managed to do it. They continued down the hall until they reached another door.

"Ladies first." Roxas said.

"You're such a gentleman." Tria said jokingly, and she walked into the next room. Roxas followed behind her, and the door closed behind them.

This room was by far the brightest they'd seen so far in the mansion, and by far the strangest. It was large and circular, and the walls, ceiling and floor were all pure white. In the center were 2 large pods, and they were shocked to see the red-coated man, DiZ, standing before them.

"At last, the Keyblade's chosen one." He said as they walked forward.

"Who are you talking to?" Roxas asked angrily. "Me, or Sora?"

"To half of Sora, of course." DiZ replied simply. "You reside in darkness. What I need is someone who can move about the realm of light and destroy Organization XIII."

"Why?" Tria asked. "Who are you?"

"I am a servant of the world."DiZ replied. "And, If I'm a servant, then you two should consider yourselves tools, at best."

Roxas and Tria turned to look at each other for a moment with startled looks on their faces. Roxas's face quickly turned to anger, and he faced DiZ.

"Was that..." He started to say slowly, "Was that supposed to be a joke? 'Cuz I'm not laughing!"

Roxas summoned his Keyblade and ran at DiZ. He swung the weapon with all of his strength at his foe, but he and the weapon merely went flying through him.

Roxas turned around and looked at him with a shocked look on his face. Tria ran forward, and DiZ gave a soft chuckle.

"My apologies." He said. "This is only a data-based projection."

Roxas, frustrated and confused, finally snapped. He gave a yell of rage, and began slicing away at DiZ with all of his strength. Each attack merely went through him. He gave a final attack, and DiZ vanished. Tria ran over to him and helped him stand up, as he was hunched over with exhaustion.

"Roxas, it's okay." Tria said soothingly.

Roxas didn't respond. He leaned on her arm, trying to catch his breath. Behind them, DiZ had rematerialized closer to the pods.

"Come, over here." He said calmly.

Roxas's eyes flashed with anger, and he stood straight up. He turned to face his enemy once again.

"I hate you so much..." He said, trying to supress his rage.

"You should share some of that hatred with Sora." DiZ suggested. "He's far too kind for his own good."

Roxas gave another yell of rage, and lept forward to strike again. DiZ vanished, however, and a strange hissing noise filled the air. Roxas and Tria inched together and took several steps back as one of the pods opened...within seconds, the second pod had begun to open...

Roxas blinked as he looked up and to the left and saw the face of Sora emerge from the pod. He stole a glance at Tria, who was looking up at Corita with an equal look of shock.

Sora and Corita still appeared asleep, even though the pods were both open. Roxas and Tria slowly inched apart.

"They are..." Roxas said slowly. "They're lucky."

"Why's that?" Tria asked nervously.

Roxas turned to face her. "It looks like our summer vacation is...over."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Corita yawned and blinked. The room she was in was very bright...she rubbed her eyes to try to get them to adjust quickly. As she came to her senses, she realized that someone was calling her name...

No...screeching her name.

"Corita!" quacked her magical rival, Donald Duck.

Corita looked down and saw that Donald and Goofy were waiting for her at the foot of her pod. She grinned and hopped out, yawning again and stretching her arms.

"Good morning, Corita!" Goofy said cheerfully.

"Good morning to you too, Goofy." Corita said cheerfully still stretching. "Where's Sora?"

Goofy pointed behind her, and Corita turned to see another pod, much like the one she'd just been in. It was slowly opening, and Donald was tapping his foot impatiently. Finally, the pod opened completely, and Sora became visible.

"Sora!" Corita called. Sora's eyes opened, and he blinked blearily.

"Wha...?" He said, still dazed.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!"

Sora stretched his arms, and lept out of his pod. As he landed, his knees gave way under him, and he had to be caught by his friends. They lifted him back up, and he grinned foolishly at them.

"What's that about?" Donald asked.

"Sora, look at you!" Corita squealed.

"What? What's wrong?" Sora asked.

"You must've grown at least 3 inches while you were asleep!" She said. "Your pants look like shorts!"

"Hey, you've grown, too!" He said. "But you're still shorter than me."

"Am not." She said. "It's just because you're hair is so spiky."

"Wait a second." Sora said. "We were...asleep?"

"We must've been." A tiny voice said from Goofy's shoulder. The 4 friends looked closely to see Jiminy Cricket perched there. "Otherwise I don't think we'd be feeling so drowsy..."

"When did we fall asleep?" Corita asked. The friends fell into a state of deep thought.

"Let's see...we defeated Ansem..." Sora recalled.

"Yup." Goofy said in agreement.

"Restored light to the world...rescued Kairi..."

"Hmm..." Goofy thought. "Hey, Jiminy. What's the last thing in your journal?"

"Let me check." Jiminy said, hopping carefully off Goofy's shoulder and landing on the ground, journal in hand. He carefully flipped though the last marked page.

"'Thank Naminé.'" Jiminy read.

"Thank...Naminé? Who's Naminé?" Sora wondered. The group fell back into a state of deep thought.

"Some journal that is." Donald said grumpily. Jiminy looked back at him, shocked that he'd insulted his hard work.

"Well, it doesn't matter." Sora said, shrugging.

"Let's go have a look around." Corita suggested. "Sora...your voice has gotten deeper, hasn't it?"

"Hey...you're right!" Goofy said in agreement.

"Has it?" Sora wondered.

"It used to be pretty whiny sounding." Donald told him.

"Donald, that's awful!" Goofy told him.

"I'm just kidding!" Donald said quickly. "Let's go look around."

"Thank goodness." Sora sighed. "This bright room is hurting my eyes."

Sora Fangirls: NUUUU! SORA'S PERFECT BLUE EYES!  
Sora53: -rolls eyes-  
Sora Fangirls: You're just jealous because your eyes aren't pretty like Sora's!  
Sora53: O.o of course.  
Corita: Okay, you know what? My cookies aren't that bad!  
Fans/Roxas: -are lying in bed sick-  
Fans: My stomach.  
Roxas: I don't even feel like eating ice cream.  
Sora53: WHAT?  
Joe: I liked them, Corita...  
Corita: Of course you did, Joe.  
Joe: -faints-


	8. Hayner, Pence and Olette

-Corita: Whoot whoot! New chapter!  
Sora53: Erm...isn't that MY job?  
Corita: Sowwy. -gives you a cookie-  
Sora53: Erm...thanks...-throws cookie away when Corita isn't looking-  
Sora: Corita! This cookies you made are awful!  
Corita: -le gasp- That's not true! Sora53 likes them, don't you?  
Sora53: Erm...yeah!  
Roxas: You're lying, aren't you?  
Sora53: No!  
Roxas: YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE! 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Corita. Sadly, that means I own the cookies she makes, too...

"What on earth were we doing sleeping in such an old mansion?" Goofy wondered aloud as he and his friends emerged from the mansion they'd been in.

"Wish I could tell ya." Sora responded, yawning again. "Let's keep moving."

They were now in a small clearing in front of the mansion. They moved forward into a small patch of woods, and then came out into a huge, bustling city.

The four friends looked around in awe. A tram was trundling by 20 feet away, while many people were shopping at the various stands set up across the street. The town was bathed in twilight, and it cast a warm glow across all of the buildings that stood above them. As Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy wandered the streets, they quickly became overwhelmed. They ducked into a small alleyway to avoid the bustle of the town.

"You know, I feel like I've been to this town." Sora said to his friends as they walked down the alley.

"Really?" Corita asked as she looked at him. "You getting the feeling...that you've seen this place before?"

"You getting it, too?" Sora asked. Corita nodded.

Donald tapped his foot impatiently. Sora and Corita looked at each other for a moment, then turned away.

"Um...must've imagined it." Sora said. Donald turned around and kept walking down the alley, followed by Goofy. Sora and Corita stole another confused glance at each other, and continued behind their friends.

Within a short time, they found themselves standing in front of a red curtain flapping in the way of another path. Goofy began poking it, as did Corita. Donald sighed and pushed them both behind it, and followed them in.

They found that the curtain led into a small room. Light filtered in from above, casting a glow on the various posters, boxes and other assorted objects scattered around. Sora, as soon as he entered, noticed that there were 3 strangers already in the room. 2 of them were sitting on an old sofa, while another was sitting on a box. All 3 of them were staring at the ground, obviously deep in thought."

"Donald, you jerk!" Corita growled.

"You were the one poking the curtain!"

"HEY!" Yelled a strange voice. Corita and Donald looked up and saw that the 3 strangers were staring at them. The one who'd spoken, the boy sitting on the box, lept up and walked over to them. "What do you want?"

"Uh...nothing." Corita said quickly. "We were just wondering what was back here."

"Now you know." He said coldly. "This is our spot."

He glared at them and walked off. The other two who'd been sitting on the sofa, a boy and a girl, walked over.

"Umm..." The boy said, examining their faces.

"What?" Sora asked.

"You're new around here, right?" He asked. "I'm Pence."

"Hayner." The other boy said, turning his head slightly towards them.

Corita frowned. "Well, aren't you just a big ol' bucket of sugar."

Hayner glared at her. Sora, sensing danger, quickly continued his conversation with the others as Hayner pushed past Corita and Donald and walked out. Corita grimaced.

"And you are?" He asked politely, looking at the girl.

"Oh, my name's Olette." She said brightly. "Hey, did you finish up the summer homework, yet? Independent studies are the worst, huh?"

"Homework?" Sora said in disgust. He turned to look at Corita, Goofy, and Donald. They shrugged, and Sora shook his head.

"Hey, what are your names?" Pence asked.

"I'm Sora." Sora told them.

"Donald Duck." Donald said.

"Name's Goofy."

"I'm Corita." Corita said.

"Hmm..." Pence said, deep in thought. "We just met someone who was looking for you guys..."

"He seemed like he was in a hurry." Olette explained. "He had a black coat on, so we couldn't see his face, but he had these big round ears..."

"The King!" Donald and Goofy yelled instantly.

"Where'd you see him?" Sora asked over Donald and Goofy's gleeful yells.

"At the station." Pence said.

"The station! Thanks!" Sora said. "We've gotta go!"

"No problem." Olette said. "Oh, and sorry about Hayner...he's usually really nice."

"He has a bit of an attitude problem." Pence said with a grin.

"I noticed." Corita said bitterly. Sora gave a laugh.

"In other words, he's just like you, huh?"

"You...!" Corita growled, looking at Sora, who continued to laugh. He was joined by Goofy and Donald, and Corita's face turned beet red.

"We...should get to the station." Corita said, dragging her friends away. "See you, guys!"

Pence and Olette waved, and Corita's friends continued to laugh as they walked throught the streets.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't know what you guys are talking about." Corita said as they turned a corner and began walking up a paved hill to reach the station. "I don't have an attitude problem."

"You tend to be a tad expressive." Goofy told her.

"Well, I'm turning over a new leaf." She said boldly. "I'm going to be nothing but kind, caring, and giving. No more random urges to blast stuff into oblivion...DONALD!"

Donald had taken Corita's declaration of reform as his opportunity to hold out his foot and try to trip her. Sora and Goofy broke out into more laughter, and Corita grumbled as she continued up the hill. They quickly reached Central Station, and began moving towards the doors.

Suddenly, several strange creatures appeared all around them, appearing out of thin air. Goofy grabbed his shield, Donald and Corita readied their staffs, and Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade into his hands.

"Heartless!" Donald yelled. "Watch out!"

Sora cocked his head and looked at one of the gangly white creatures. They were somehow different from Heartless...

"Look alive!" Donald said, sending a blast of fire at one of the creatures who'd been about to attack Sora. Sora quickly came to his senses and began swinging at them.

Corita cast a thunder spell, and several of the creatures were struck by the bolts. The spell seemed weaker than usual...

"What the heck?" Corita said, banging her staff into her hand. "This stupid thing must be broken!" She sent another spell at one of the creatures, but found that she was already growing tired.

"You okay?" Goofy asked her, running past while banging the creatures with his shield.

"Fine..." She said, rubbing her head.

Sora, meanwhile, was across the station plaza, beating the creatures with his weapon. They were quickly pushing him and Donald back towards the center, though. Before they knew it, they were completely surrounded, and the four friends were in the middle of a circle of the enemies. Donald's knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground, and Goofy followed after. Corita sent one final fire spell at one of the creatures, and collapsed from exhaustion as well.  
Sora fought the urge to fall to the ground with his friends, but the next thing he knew he was beside his sister. The creature directly in front of Sora prepared to strike, and he held up his Keyblade to defend himself, but something else knocked the creature back. It vanished, and a black blur began destroying the enemies. All of the remaining enemies were quickly defeated, the newcomer was was watched by Sora and Corita in awe.

"Is that..." Sora said slowly, but he was quickly stopped by Goofy leaping on his head. Donald lept on Corita's head, who yelped in surprise.

"Your Majesty?" Donald asked.

"Shh!" the small figure, covered in a black coat whispered. "You gotta board the train and leave town! The train knows the way." He held out a pouch, and Sora reached out from under Goofy to take it. The figure then dashed away towards Market Street where the four of them had just been.

"The King...was that really him?" Sora asked as he stood up. Corita pushed Donald away and stood up next to him, and Goofy and Donald got to their feet as well.

"Yup, I know it was!" Goofy said happily.

"Now we know he's okay!" Donald cheered.

"The King was locked in the realm of darkness, right?" Corita wondered.

"Yup." Goofy said.

"But we just saw him..."

"Yep."

"Wait a minute." Sora interruped. "If the King is here, that must mean Riku's here!"

Corita smiled. "My thought's exactly. He must be!"

"We're gonna look for Riku." Sora said to Donald and Goofy. "Then he can come back to the islands with us. Kairi's there waiting for us! What are you two gonna do?"

"Gawrsh, do ya havta ask?" Goofy chortled.

"Let's stick together for one more journey." Donald said with a smile.

"To...where again?" Sora wondered.

"We have to board the train!" Corita said. "How is a guy with such a bad memory the Keyblade Master?"

Donald and Goofy laughed. Sora smiled and laughed nervously.

"We're even." She said, holding out her hand. Sora took it and shook it, and they smiled at each other.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wait up!" Hayner yelled to the four of them. They were gathered around the ticket booth, buying tickets to the train. Hayner, Pence and Olette had run forward to see them.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Attitude Problem." Corita said. "What's up?"

"Nothing, but..." Hayner said slowly, but his statement was finished by Pence.

"We came to see you off. It just seemed like something we oughta do." Pence told them.

"Really? Thanks!" Sora said cheerfully. A bell began ringing from above them, signaling that the train would be leaving soon. Sora reached into his pockets and pulled out the pouch the King had given him, which was conveniently full of munny. Olette gave it a peculiar look, but remained silent. Sora handed it to the man in the ticket booth, and he handed four tickets back along with the remainder of the munny.

"I can't help feeling like we won't see this town again..." Corita said slowly.

"Why not?" Donald asked.

"Dunno. Just a feeling I got."

Donald rolled his eyes. "You're thinking too much."

"C'mon, let's get rolling!" Goofy said as he ran up to the train and boarded. Donald followed behind him, but Corita lingered next to Sora, who was saying goodbye to Hayner, Pence and Olette.

"Hey, guys. You sure we haven't met before?" Hayner asked.

Sora and Corita thought about it for a moment. They looked at each other for a moment, then looked back at the others.

"Positive." Sora responded.

"Why do you ask?" Corita wondered.

"I dunno." Hayner said, shrugging.

Corita shrugged as well. "Well, Sora, we should...Sora?"

She'd turned to look at her brother, and she saw that a tear was running down her cheek. Sora looked at her.

"What?" He said. She pointed to his cheek, and he put his hand to his face.

"Why are you crying?" She asked.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Sora said as he wiped his face. Corita put her hand to her face and realized that she, too, had a tear running down her face.

"Are...you two okay?" Hayner asked as they dried their faces.

"Y-yeah." Sora said quickly.

"We'll see you guys." Corita added.

They boarded the train just as the last bell was sounding. They waved goodbye to their new friends, and the door snapped shut. Corita flopped down on a seat next to Donald and Goofy as the train rumbled and moved forward. Sora stood across from her, staring at the munny pouch. Donald was staring out the window as countryside began wizzing past them, as was Goofy.

The trip passed in silence for a while, with Corita sitting on the seat, Sora standing across from her, and Donald and Goofy staring out the window. After a little while, Sora looked in the pouch of munny, and saw that there were 2 strange orbs hidden near the bottom of the munny. He dug them out, and saw that they were blue and purple.

Corita stood up and walked over to him. "Purple, huh?" she said. He handed it to her. She held hers up to the light, and he followed suit.

"You know..." Sora said as he watched his orb sparkle. "I'm sad."

Corita looked up at him. "I'm kinda sad, too...but we'll be back."

"Yeah..." Sora said as he turned back to look out the window. The rolling countryside faded away, and they were soon zooming through a strange, mysterious area. Considering what they'd been through, however, it wasn't _that _unusual...

---Sora53: -is running away screaming-  
Roxas: Face the power of the cookies!  
Joe: I like them, Corita.  
Corita: Thank you, Joe. You have my gratitude.  
Joe: -squeal- -dies-  
Fans: You sicken me.  
Joe: -comes back to life- You guys are really bitter!  
Fans: Not true...


	9. The King's Teacher

Corita: Everyone! I have terrible news!  
Fans: AWESOME!  
Corita: -sob- all my cookie dough has been stolen!  
Sora/Roxas: -looks away whistling-  
Sora53: Hmm...I wonder where it went...-looks away whistling-  
Joe: -le gasp- I will find the missing cookie dough!  
Corita: Thank you, Joe. I appreciate the support.  
Joe: XD 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, Corita. And her random missing cookie dough.

The train chugged along for a short time, then slowly began to come to a halt. Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy headed to the door of the train, and exited once the door opened. The sky above them was lit much like Twilight Town, but they were on a small island of land surrounded by open space. Ahead of them was a tall and mysterious tower, emblazoned with moons and stars like the train they'd arrived on.

The four friends headed across the grassy island. Sora looked back at the train, but moments after, the train vanished slowly into thin air.

Sora laughed nervously. "There goes our ride..."

"Where are we, anyway?" Corita asked.

Sora shrugged. "Do you guys know?" He asked Donald and Goofy. Both shook their heads.

"Oh, well." Sora sighed. "Let's go in."

They walked over a short distance of land towards the tower, but as they got closer, they realized that someone was standing in front of the door. He was peering inside (the door was open a tiny crack) and he seemed very busy.

"What's going on?" Donald asked once they reached the foot of the steps to the entrance.

The person in front of the door gave a deep laugh. "I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big and tough as they say." The person had an obnoxious voice, and he didn't even turn to look at them while he spoke. "Word is, he's a real powerful sorcerer. Which would make him the perfect bodyguard for me. See, it don't matter how tough he is...once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say!"

"A Heartless?" Corita said, alert.

"That's right!" He said happily. "They're those things that come outta the darkness is folks' hearts. Why, with all those Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything!"

Sora and Corita exchanged amused looks. The four friends had, of course, defeated Maleficent on their last journey.

"And since I got me a debt to pay, I'm goin' 'round to a bunch of different worlds and buildin' an army of Heartless, special for her." He continued. "Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway? Go on, scram! I'm behind schedule as it is."

"You oughta find somethin' nicer to do." Goofy said.

"Hehe...says who?" The person said as he finally turned to face them. "Whaa-aaah? It's YOU!" He cried, looking at Donald and Goofy.

"Pete!" Donald and Goofy cried together.

"What are you two nimrods doin' here?" The person called Pete roared in disgust.

"What are YOU doing here?" Donald asked angrily.

"You know him?" Sora asked.

Goofy gave him a serious look. "We sure do! Pete's been causin' trouble for ages! His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped..."

Pete gave a short laugh. "You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how! And now your world...no, no, no, all the worlds...are gonna belong to yours truly. Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em!"

"Maleficent...huh." Sora said as Corita, Goofy and Donald chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Pete cried as all four of them broke into gales of laughter. "Why, Maleficent's power is so great..."

"She's toast!" Sora called out to him.

"Huh?" Pete said, shocked.

"Sorry, but Maleficent can't help ya now." Goofy taunted.

"Whaddaya mean?" Pete shouted to them. Donald gave a short snicker.

Comprehension dawned on Pete's face. "You! So you're the ones that did it!"

"Well...we might've had something to do with it." Corita said carelessly.

Pete's face grew even angrier. He gave a yell of rage, then said, "Heartless squad! Round up!"

Heartless Shadows popped up out of the ground all around them. Weapons in hand, the team was easily able to defeat the weak enemies. Pete watched in horror as his Heartless squad was destroyed within moments by the team.

"You just wait!" He said angrily as the last Shadow vanished. "Nobody, and I do mean nobody, messes with the mighty Pete!"

"So, 'mighty' Pete," Sora said, lowering his Keyblade, "who lives in this tower, anyway?"

"Oh, ya don't know, eh?" Pete said gruffly. "Well, it's old Yen Sid. 'Course he's probably a Heartless by now!" He said cheerfully.

"Master Yen Sid lives here?" Donald asked, shocked and excited. He ran up the stone steps and past Pete, right into the tower.

"Yen Sid is the King's teacher!" Goofy told Sora and Corita as they, too, headed up the steps into the tower.

"Wow, sounds powerful!" Sora replied as he shut the door before Pete could follow them in.

"Yup, Yen Sid is the most powerful sorcerer in history!" Donald told them as they slowly began their climb up the tower. There was a spiral staircase that went some ways up to a door. "When we meet with him, be sure to show respect!"

"Just what are you implying?" Corita asked as they walked.

Donald looked at her. "You tend to not show respect for your superiors."

"What?" She asked, shocked. "I do, too...besides, it sounds like I could learn a thing or two from him!"

Corita smiled and walked on. Donald shook his head, and Goofy chuckled at Donald's reaction. Sora, however, was distracted by a wave of Heartless that had just appeared.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Heartless, Heartless, Heartless! Things haven't changed one bit!" Donald grumbled as he defeated another Shadow with a fire spell.

"Well, it's a good thing we're on the job, then." Goofy said cheerfully.

"So the worlds aren't at peace after all?" Sora sighed as they climbed a tall set of stairs that led to a large door.

"I'm sure Yen Sid will be able to explain everything to us." Corita said.

Donald looked at her. "You've never even met him!"

Corita looked down at him. "So?"

Donald sighed again. He and Goofy pushed the door in front of them open, and the two of them stepped inside. Sora and Corita followed closely behind.

They found themselves in a small room, with moon and star shaped windows letting in the twilit sky. Directly in front of them, Donald and Goofy were bowing before an old wizard, who was sitting at a desk. Corita moved forward and bowed as well.

"Master Yen Sid! It's an honor!" Donald said.

"Hey there!" Sora said cheerfully, moving forward towards his friends. Corita, Donald and Goofy looked up at him in shock.

"Sora! Show some respect!" Donald said in a more impatient tone.

Yen Sid put his hand up, and Donald stopped. He was dressed in long blue robes as well as a pointed blue hat. He had a long grey beard, and his eyes held some mysterious magic as he looked at them.

"So, you are Sora." He said in a powerful yet somehow calming voice. "Now then, have you seen the King yet?"

"Yes, we did, Master. But we didn't get a chance to talk to him." Goofy explained.

"Yes...the King has been quite busy of late. Therefore, it would seem that the task of instructing you four falls upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey ahead of you. You must be well prepared."

"You mean...we have to go on another quest?" Sora asked. "Corita and I were looking forward to finding my friend Riku, so we could go back to the islands."

"Yes. I know." Yen Sid said. "However, everything in your journey, Sora, is connected. Whether you will find your way home to the islands... Whether you and your sister will return alone or with your friend... And, whether or not the islands will still be there. And the key that connects them all is you, Sora."

"I'm...the key?" Sora wondered. He slowly lifted his arm in front of him, and the Keyblade appeared in a flash of light.

"Chosen wielder of the Keyblade! You are the key that will open the door to light." Yen Sid said. Sora looked away from the Keyblade to look at the wizard, and nodded boldly.

"Excuse me, Master Yen Sid..." Corita asked meekly, "How come the Heartless are still running around?"

Yen Sid turned away from Sora to look at her. "Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the great darkness; make no mistake about that." He explained to them all. "However, the Heartless are darkness made real...and darkness lingers yet in every heart. The Heartless are fewer. But while darkness exists in a single heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them."

All four friends gave a deep sigh.

"Gawrsh, that must mean...if everybody's heart was full of light, them Heartless'd go away!" Goofy realized. Yen Sid nodded.

"Now it is time to speak of the enemies that you will encounter." Yen Sid said calmly. He waved his hand in front of him, and an image of Donald appeared near the wall. Donald gave a squawk as he and the others looked at it.

"If one such as you, Donald, yields to the darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless." Yen Sid said. The image of Donald grew darker as it was swallowed by darkness, and an image of a Shadow Heartless replaced it. "But you know this. The Heartless are always lurking and ever seeking to capture new hearts. Never let your guard down! Now then..."

Yen Sid waved his hand again, and a new image appeared next to the Shadow. It was one of the strange creatures that had attacked them at the station in Twilight Town.

"At times, if someone with a strong heart and will...be they evil or good...becomes a Heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own." Yen Sid explained. The Shadow vanished, leaving behind the strange white creature.

"An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away... A spirit that goes on even as its body fades from exitence...for you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all."

"Nobodies?" Sora wondered aloud, looking closer at the creature.

"Nobodies may seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse...they only pretend to have hearts. You must not be deceived!" Yen Sid warned.

"Nobodies... They don't exist..." Corita whispered.

The Nobody near the wall vanished, but 4 images appeared behind Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy. The four friends turned to face them.

"Now then...the being you see before you is known as a Dusk." Yen Sid said. "They are the most common form of Nobody. But there are others---some larger, some with frightening and unique powers. Be vigilant! On your journey, you will meet an alarming number of Dusks. They will all attempt to do you harm."

The images of the Dusks faded away. "Still, they are nothing but empty shells, destined to return to the darkness. But---"

The old sorceror waved his hand once again, and the places where the Dusks stood were filled by strange new figures.

"The beings you see before you now are different." Yen Sid said as the others watched the images warily. They were tall and robed in black, with hoods covering their faces. "These powerful Nobodies have formed a group called Organization XIII. It commands the lesser Nobodies."

"Organization XIII..." Sora wondered, turning to his friends. They looked at him with confused looks on their faces, indicating that they had never heard of it either.

"While Heartless act on instinct, Nobodies function in a higher manner. They can think and plan. And it seems they are working towards a goal. What that goal is, we do not know. The King sensed the danger, and journeyed forth to fight it. He found the dark realm's Keyblade, and with it, closed the door. Now he's traveling from world to world, fighting the Heartless as he seeks the answer to the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII." Yen Sid told them. The cloaked figures vanished, and the four friends turned back to face Yen Sid.

"Then I guess we better go find the King first!" Sora said.

"But where could he be?" Corita wondered.

"Hmm...well, we won't know 'til we look." Goofy decided.

"Yeah. And the King must know where Riku is, 'cause the two of them were together in the realm of darkness when we closed the door." Sora said.

"Yeah, after we beat Ansem." Corita added.

Yen Sid smiled. "So, before you go, you will need more suitable traveling clothes. Those look a bit too small for you."

Sora looked down at his outfit. It was true; it was far too small at this point.

"Through there, you'll find three good fairies. If you ask, they'll create for you appropriate garments." Yen Sid said, gesturing towards a door across the room.

"Gawrsh, Sora, you sure are growing fast." Goofy told him cheerfully.

"Uh, I guess..." Sora said nervously.

"Can I get new clothes, too?" Corita asked excitedly. Yen Sid smiled and nodded.

Donald rolled his eyes. "Girls..."

Corita gave a squeak of joy, and the four friends hurried through the door that Yen Sid had directed them through. The door led to a room of about the same size, with various wardrobes leaning against the walls. At the opposite end of the room, the 3 fairies Yen Sid had told them about were standing together and talking. Goofy closed the door behind them, and the fairies looked up. One was dressed in blue, one green, and one red.

"Well, look who's here, dears! Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy!" The one in red said.

"Ooh, if you're looking for clothes, you've come to the right place!" The one in blue said. She and the one in red moved forward.

"I'll do the designing." The one in green said, and she moved forward as well.

"Hi, guys." Sora said cheerfully.

"What are your names?" Corita asked.

"Oh, I'm Flora." The fairy in red said.

"Fauna." The fairy in green replied. She was now looking up and down at Sora and Corita, obviously coming up with designs in her head.

"Merryweather." The one in blue said cheerfully. "Now, ladies first!"

"Me?" Corita said, excited. She was moved away from her friends by Flora and Merryweather, and Fauna lined up with them.

"Now then..." Fauna said, taking out a small wand. "How about this?"

Fauna's wand shot out a beam of green light, which hit Corita. The green light glowed around her for a moment, then it faded away. A few moments later, it was revealed that she looked exactly the same, but her clothes were now tinted with green.

"I love it!" Corita said, clearly ecstatic.

"Oh, no! That won't do!" Merryweather said. She sent a small blue beam of light at Corita, and her clothes changed from green to blue.

"I love it, too!" Corita said, looking down at her clothes.

"Ladies!" Flora said loudly, as Fauna and Merryweather were now bickering over Corita's clothes. "Come now, all together..."

Fauna and Merryweather turned away from each other, and all 3 fairies sent a beam of light at Corita at the same time. Corita glowed with a white light, and when it had faded away, she had a new set of clothes.

Corita's brilliant blue eyes shone with glee as she looked at her new attire. She wore a pure white jacket with sleeves that fell to just above her elbows. The jacket's sleeves had a bright blue ring at the end, about an inch in diameter. The jacket was over a pale blue tanktop. Her pants, which fell to her knees, were much like her jacket, with blue rims at the end of each leg. She had new fingerless gloves for easily gripping her staff, and her shoes were just as white and blue as the rest of her.

"It's very...white." Donald said, blinking.

"Of course!" Flora said. "You look very nice, my dear!"

"Thanks!" Corita said breathlessly, still looking at her new clothes.

"Those aren't ordinary clothes, you know." Merryweather told her. "They're Healer's clothes, designed to help you use your gift to it's fullest!"

"Really?" Corita asked, looking up at last.

"Oh, yes." Fauna said. "Such a pure heart deserves such special clothes!"

Corita grinned and squeaked with joy. She hopped back into position with Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Your turn, my dear!" Flora said to Sora. As Sora walked forward, Donald snickered.

"'Pure heart'? Since when?"

Corita sighed. "Must you ruin EVERY happy moment?"

"Sorry..." Donald said, still stifling a snicker.

"You...!"

"Stop, guys!" Goofy said. "The fairies are having another debate..."

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather were once again bickering over the color of Sora's new outfit. Sora's clothes were constantly changing from blue to green, and green to red, then back to blue.

"Would you just decide?" Sora sighed impatiently.

The fairies gasped. They looked at each other, and began to giggle.

"All right, then. Together now, dears. " Flora said, holding up her wand. The other 2 did the same, and 3 beams of light shot at Sora. Sora glowed white just as Corita had, then the light faded away. Sora, too, had new clothes. His were very different from his sister's, however; he wore a black jacket over a red shirt, and his new black pants had gold straps and large red pockets. He had new black and yellow gloves and shoes, as well.

"Oh, my..." Flora gasped.

"Ooh, it's lovely." Fauna complimented.

"Oh, yes! He does look very dashing." Merryweather added.

The Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand, and he grinned at them. He was clearly just as pleased with his new outfit as Corita was with hers, but he was determined not to squeak with joy as she had.

"Now, those aren't ordinary garments." Flora told him.

"They have very special powers." Fauna said.

Donald snickered. "Your clothes only have special powers." He whispered to Corita. "His have _very_ special powers."

Corita rolled her eyes. "Big whup."

In the meantime, Flora had conjured a glowing yellow orb and was now floating it towards Sora.

"Take the orb, dear." Flora told him. Sora reached out and plucked the orb out of the air.

"And watch what happens..." Merryweather said very softly.

As Sora's fingers closed entirely around the orb, he was suddenly struck back with immense power. Corita gasped and moved forward to help him, but moments later, he was surrounded by a bright light. Within seconds, Sora stood before them once more. His new clothes had changed, and they were now bright red rather than black. Corita, Donald and Goofy gasped in awe, and Sora looked down to realize that he was gripping a second Keyblade in his left hand.

"Whoa!" Sora said, looking at his weapons.

"Two Keyblades!" Goofy gasped in wonder.

"This journey's gonna be twice as difficult as your last." Merryweather told them. All four friends let out a sigh.

"Your garments also have other powers...but you will have to discover what they are as you continue on your journey." said Flora.

"Okay, I'll do my best. And thanks a lot!" Sora said, nodding.

"Yeah, thanks!" Corita chirped, looking at her new clothes once again.

"Oh, and there's something else for you...from Master Yen Sid." Fauna said.

The four friends looked at each other. They smiled, and turned towards the door.

"Bye!" They said as they headed back to Yen Sid's room. The fairies waved at them, and they shut the door behind them.

-Sora53: Well, I did it. I finally got to give you a description for Corita's outfit. I never realized that I hadn't...it never really came to mind XD  
Fans: What a loser.  
Sora53: Hey! Years ago, when I was a bad writer...  
Fans: You still are.  
Sora53: -rolls eyes- I had no need for such nitpicky details.  
Fans: Whatever. Did you get rid of the cookie dough?  
Sora53: I thought you did.  
Fans: I thought you, Sora, and Roxas were going to.  
Sora/Roxas: We didn't do it.  
Joe: Eureka! I found the cookie dough!  
Roxas: TACKLE HIM!  
Joe: AHH! -is tackled-  
Sora: Get the dough! Throw it away!  
Corita: -walks in- O-o what the heck?


	10. Return to Hollow Bastion

Corita: -steps onto a random stage- I have an announcement!  
Sora53: Yes?  
Corita: I've decided...to give up baking!  
Everyone: -wild cheers-  
Joe: -sob-  
Sora53: What's the catch, Corita?  
Corita: There isn't one! I'm just bored of baking.  
Joe: NOOOO! SAY IT ISN'T SO!  
Fans: X-x throw him out of here!  
Security Guard: Come on, Joe, back to the clinic...  
Joe: NUUUUU! 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Corita :P (boring disclaimer)

When they entered Yen Sid's room, they saw that he was now standing near one of the moon-shaped windows. They walked towards him, and he turned his head away from the window to look at them. He gave a gentle smile when he saw Sora and Corita's new clothes. Donald peeked out the window, and gave a yell of excitement.

"Hey! It's the Gummi Ship!" He cried with glee.

The four friends dashed to the other side of Yen Sid to look out the window. It was true; their Gummi Ship was waiting for them in all it's brightly colored glory.

"So you guys ready to go?" Sora asked. His 3 friends nodded. They looked away from the window and lept into a straight line before the wizard.

"Now, now, just a moment." Yen Sid, holding up his hand. Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy gave a soft yet dissappointed sigh, and relaxed their shoulders a bit.

"Because of your previous endeavors, the worlds have returned to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared." Yen Sid told them.

They sighed once again. "How do we get around?" Donald asked.

"Do not fear. If what the King suspected proves true, the worlds have prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways may be utilized by unlocking special gates. How these gates are opened, I'm afraid I do not know... However, the Keyblade will serve as your guide."

"Up to you, then, Sora!" Goofy chuckled.

Yen Sid nodded. "When a beam of light radiates from the Keyblade, return to the Gummi Ship. Though the worlds may seem far apart and out of reach, they nonetheless remain connected by invisible ties. As do our hearts."

"Our hearts are connected." Sora whispered.

"That is correct. But be warned. As you proceed... The Heartless and the Nobodies will be using their own paths: Corridors of darkness, to travel from world to world. They may be attempting to link these dark pathways to the gates between the worlds."

"Man...that's not fair..." Corita sighed.

Yen Sid smiled and observed them all. "Now then, that is all the information I can give to you. Go forth, Sora, Corita, Donald, and Goofy. Everyone is waiting."

"Okay, let's get going!" Sora said to his friends cheerfully. They nodded, and turned back to Yen Sid once more, standing straight up.

"Master Yen Sid!" Donald squawked.

"Thank you for all of your help!" Corita finished. They each saluted the old sorcerer, then ran off to board the Gummi Ship.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Look at this place!" Corita said, excited. The Gummi Ship had many new additions to it. There were still 2 seats for pilot and co-pilot and 2 for that trips' passengers, but there was a new radar system installed for them to scope out worlds, as well as a brand new copy of their favorite book, 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads'. Over the intercom, 2 cheerful voices hailed them.

"Howdy, guys! How ya doin'?"

"It's your favorite Gummi engineers here, ready for duty: Chip and Dale!"

"Happy flying!" The chipmunks squeaked together.

"Thanks, guys!" Goofy said back. He was examining the ship's new radar system. "Lookie here, everyone! This here gizmo shows us worlds nearby!"

The radar beeped red, indicating their current position, which was hovering over a mini version of Twilight Town. A small path of blinking blue lights created a path leading to another mini world.

"Only one?" Sora cried.

"That's no good!" Donald sighed.

"Wait! I think it's a world we know!" Goofy announced, peering closer at the radar.

"I wanna be pilot!" Sora cheered, throwing himself into the captain's chair.

"Then I want-" Donald started, but Corita interrupted him.

"I call co-pilot!" She said quickly, throwing herself into the chair before Donald could say another word. "Why don't you go back their and re-read 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads'?"

Donald grumbled and flopped into one of the back seats.

Sora squealed, excited. Corita gave him a strange look. "You had to wait until you got away from Yen Sid to squeak like that, huh?"

"Well...gotta make a good impression." Sora told her, pressing various buttons. The Gummi Ship lurched forward, then stopped.

"SORA!" Donald roared.

"Sorry!" He said, pressing other buttons.

"Press the green one!"

"This one?"

"NO! THE OTHER GREEN ONE!"

"Well, make up your mind!" Sora cried, jamming the green button. The Gummi Ship began to move forward smoothly.

Corita rolled her eyes. "I hate it when Donald's right."

Donald snickered and Goofy chortled. Since the team wasn't passing through one of the gates Yen Sid had mentioned, the trip was relatively quick and easy. They did meet a few Heartless ships, but Corita was more than happy to blow them up with one press of the 'DON'T PRESS UNLESS HEARTLESS SHIPS ARE ATTEMPTING TO SHOOT YOU OUT OF THE SKY!" button. Donald sighed as Sora and Corita cheered with glee when the ships fell out of the sky and blew up.

"It's not THAT exciting!" Donald roared.

"It's like we're starting a whole new journey! Remember the first time we rode in the Gummi Ship?" Corita said.

"That was awesome." Sora said, nodding. Goofy continued to chortle.

Finally, the next world came into view. Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy gasped as they saw that Hollow Bastion hovered before them. It appeared somehow different than before, though. Sora quickly prepared to land the Gummi Ship.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had arrived in Hollow Bastion, but it did indeed appear VERY different. They'd arrived in what appeared to be a small town; there were shops set up around a large plaza, where people were walking around. Many were talking, some were shopping, some were watching moogles fly overhead. In various areas, construction was underway, and people were repairing crumbling buildings. The four friends walked through the town in awe.

"Is this really Hollow Bastion?" Corita wondered.

"Gawrsh, it looks kinda different now." Goofy said.

"I hope Leon and the others are doing okay." Sora said.

"Hey, that's right!" Corita realized. "Where do you think they are?"

"Dunno." Sora said. "Let's keep going."

They walked past many shops, each selling different items. Corita's eyes shone with desire, but Sora and Donald pulled her along.

"We're broke, remember?" Donald hissed.

"No, we're not!" Corita grunted, staring longingly at the shops. "What about the extra money the king gave us?"

"Oh...that." Sora said, sighing. "We'll go shopping later! Right now we have to find Leon!"

Corita, realizing defeat, sighed and continued to walk along with her friends. They left the town, and make their way into an area that was clearly still under construction. They stopped, however, when they saw strange light pedestals coming about 4 feet off of the ground, moving around as if scanning for something, then vanishing back into the ground.

"What's going on?" Donald cried, leaping away from one.

"That's the town's defense mechanism!" Called a bright voice. Spinning around, the team saw that Yuffie was behind them, on top of a tall building.

"Yuffie!" Sora called cheerfully. Yuffie waved at them, then stopped. A worried look crossed her face, then she pointed to the team.

"Look out!" She cried. The team spun around to find that Dusk Nobodies were ambling towards them. They quickly readied their weapons and lept into battle. They were quickly disposed of; the town's defence mechanism kept shooting out of the ground, damaging the Nobodies. Yuffie had lept down from the building and was headed towards them by the time the Dusks had been defeated.

"Hey, you guys! I see you're still in top form." Yuffie complimented.

"What'd you expect?" Sora asked jokingly, slinging the Keyblade over his shoulder.

"How are the others?" Corita asked.

"Oh, they're doing great!" Yuffie said. "You know, I had a feeling I'd see you guys again."

Sora stifled a laugh, and a serious look came over his face. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

"Is that supposed to be Leon?" Yuffie asked, giggling. Corita, Goofy and Donald had broken into gales of laughter. "Everybody's working on stuff over at Merlin's house. C'mon!"

Yuffie ran ahead of them, around a sharp corner. Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy followed her, and headed towards a small house hidden among the rubble. It, unlike a lot of the buildings in the town, was still in relatively good shape. Following Yuffie, they entered the house.

The interior of the house was a decent size, though the lighting was rather dim. There was a large table in the center of the room, and a small bed off to one side. Directly ahead of them was a large computer, filling up a large chunk of wall. The sound of clicking computer keys filled the air, and they saw that Cid was seated at the computer, typing. Aerith and Leon were gathered around him, watching the computer screen carefully.

"Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" Yuffie said cheerfully, gesturing to the group at the computer. The sound of clicking keys stopped instantly, and the three gathered at the computer turned to face them. Aerith's face was filled with a bright smile.

"Welcome back!" She said brightly.

"Well, if you ain't in top shape." Cid grunted in greeting.

Even Leon's usually stoic nature allowed a small smile. "I knew it." He said softly.

"Knew what?" Sora asked.

Leon stepped forward towards them "A while back," he said as he approached them, "everyone suddenly remembered you guys, all at the same time."

"You...remembered? Wait! Does that mean you forgot about us?" Corita cried.

"Thanks." Donald growled, annoyed.

"So...where've you guys been all this time?" Yuffie asked, changing the subject quickly.

"We were sleepin'." Goofy replied.

"Where? In cold storage?" Cid said in his rough voice. Sora and Corita exchanged nervous looks.

"It doesn't matter." Aerith said. "This is great! Everyone's together again!"

"So, um...we're trying to find Riku and the King. Have you seen 'em?" Sora asked.

Leon, Yuffie, Cid and Aerith shook their heads.

"Oh...okay." Sora said sadly.

"Sorry. But let us know if there's anything we can do to help. Okay?" Aerith told them.

"Right. Thanks." Corita said, nodding her head.

Cid stood up and leaned in close to Sora and Corita. The twins backed away nervously.

"Don't go thankin' us just yet." He growled.

Leon watched the four carefully. "Hollow Bastion's got a problem. A big problem." He told them.

"You mean, like Nobodies? And Heartless?" Sora asked, peeking out from behind Cid.

"That's right!" Yuffie said brightly, as if it was hardly a problem at all.

"Then let's cut to the chase. Sora. Corita. Donald. Goofy. We were hoping the four of you might give us a hand around here."

"Hmph. Like we're gonna say no?" Sora replied boldly.

Leon smiled again. "I forgot who I'm dealing with. Follow me to the bailey---there's something you need to see."

Leon walked past them, and opened the door to the house. He left it open and walked out. After Leon left, a puff of blue smoke appeared in the corner near the door, and Merlin appeared out of it. He smiled brightly the moment he saw the group.

"Oh! I thought it was you. Right on time!" Merlin said merrily.

"Merlin!" Corita said joyfully. Merlin wore light blue robes with a matching hat, and a long light beard. He must've relocated to Hollow Bastion from Traverse Town along with the rest of the group. He had helped Corita discover her gift as a Healer, as well as given her and Sora advice on magic.

"They said they're gonna help out!" Yuffie told the wizard. Merlin smiled again. "Splendid! We'll count on you!"

"Right!" Sora said cheerfully.

"Ah, yes. Did you give them the cards, dear?" Merlin asked, looking at Aerith. Aerith reached into her pocket and pulled something out.

"Here...they're presents for you. Leon thought you might like to have them." She said as she handed one to Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy.

"Membership cards!" Donald squawked, excited.

Sora flipped his over to read the back. "Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member!"

"They even have our names on them!" Corita said, looking at hers closely.

"Kinda cool, huh?" Goofy chortled.

"Leon thought right, then." Merlin chuckled.

"Leon...Oh no! We're supposed to be at the bailey!" Sora cried, looking up.

"Just a moment, now. What about your magic?" Merlin asked sternly. Sora and Corita looked at each other nervously.

"Corita seemed like she was a little rusty." Donald said.

"Was not." Corita growled, looking at him.

Sora crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "Hmm...well, we haven't had a chance to use it in a while..."

"While you were in cold storage?" Cid asked gruffly. Sora and Corita laughed nervously.

Merlin grinned. "Now, what am I to do with you?"

"Sorry, Merlin." Corita said. "We'll work on it."

Merlin nodded. "Now, to the bailey, and fast!" he told them, stepping aside so they could get past. The four friends dashed out of the house; they didn't want to keep Leon waiting.

Sora53: -yawn- Hmm...I need a new witty idea for these opening and closing statements.  
Fans: Why? No one reads these anyway...  
Sora53: -le gasp- that is not true!  
Roxas: -yawn- -falls asleep- -eats ice cream-  
Corita: O-o THAT'S IT! I CAN INVENT A NEW ICE CREAM!  
Sora: ROXAS! WHY?  
Roxas: -wakes up- Huh?  
Corita: Muahahaha! -breaks into a random kitchen and starts preparing random stuff-


	11. Books and Pancakes

Corita: Here it is! My new ice cream!  
Fans: What is that supposed to be?  
Corita: Choco-chunk spicy bluberry spiral crunch!  
Everyone: O-o  
Corita: WHO WANTS SOME?  
Everyone: -runs away- 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but mah OC -hugs Corita-

"Look at that." Leon whispered to them, pointing out from a hole in the bailey wall. Nervously creeping forward, they peered out the 'window'. They gasped when they saw what stood on the horizon.

The once tall and proud castle of Hollow Bastion now stood in ruins. It was crumbling before their eyes; it was incredible that it was still standing. The four friends gazed in awe at the castle as Leon spoke to them.

"We want to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be. Who knows---maybe even something better."

"No problem!" Corita piped cheerfully.

Leon smiled. "There's still a lot to do, but I'm sure we can handle everything. Except...for that..."

Leon gestured out the window to the castle. His eyes strayed below the castle, and he pointed out the window. "...and that."

Turning their eyes to where Leon was pointing, they saw that two Dusks were ambling along a path towards the castle. Sora turned away from the window and looked up at Leon.

"We'll handle 'em!" He said boldly.

"Well, that's good to hear. So, guys...do you know what's going on, then?" Leon asked.

Goofy nodded. "Well, we have sort of an idea..."

"There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the Heartless." Sora explained.

"Sadly for him, he didn't seem much brighter than a pole." Corita added.

Sora looked at her and nodded. "The ones we need to worry about are the Nobodies."

Corita nodded in agreement. "Including the oh-so-dangerous Organization XIII."

"You called?" a deep voice boomed across the bailey in an almost amused tone. Corita and Sora lept back in surprise, knocking into Donald and Goofy who had to struggle to keep from falling over. Once they'd regained their balance, they ran down the path that led to a more open space.

"You're doing well." The voice said in the same tone.

"Who's there?" Sora shouted, summoning his Keyblade into his hands. Corita stood beside him, gripping her staff. Donald and Goofy stood behind them, weapons in hand.

"This calls for a celebration..." The voice replied. Several Nobodies appeared around them, and several others began heading towards the path that led into the town.

"Sora! Corita! Go!" Donald cried, sending a fire spell at a nearby Dusk. "We'll hold these guys off! You go help Leon!"

"Right!" Sora said, nodding. He and Corita dashed up the stone path to the area where Leon was fighing several Nobodies. The Nobodies were swarming around the gate to the town, which Leon had closed quickly when the enemies appeared. Sora ran to the gate and began hitting back several Dusks, while Corita shot several bolts of fire at them.

"Grr...what the heck?" Corita cried, smacking her staff against the stone wall. "I can't cast anything but fire and cure!"

"You must still be rusty from when you were sleeping." Sora said, dashing forward next to her as Leon swiped Nobodies away from the gate.

"Stupid...useless...thing..."

Corita banged her staff against the wall several times, and she could feel that random Cure spells kept being cast. Sora sighed.

"Over here!" Leon shouted. The twins, realizing that they'd been distracted, ran forward again to help Leon. They were able to beat all the Nobodies at the gate, and they ran back to where Donald and Goofy fought the remaining Nobodies. Once they'd been defeated, the mysterious voice echoed across the bailey once again.

"The Keyblade...a truly marvelous weapon." It boomed. "Were it only in more...capable hands..."

A group of people laughed after this stagement. Sora dashed forward, looking around angrily.

"Show yourselves!" He shouted. On the top of the stone wall before them, several dark portals flashed and six cloaked figures appeared.

"Organization XIII!" Goofy cried.

"Great! Now we can settle this!" Corita said, gripping her staff tighter. The center figure shook his hooded head.

"What a shame... And here I thought we could be friends." He said in the same dark voice. The figures surrounding him laughed again, and they all vanished.

"Stop!" Donald cried. He ran to the set of stairs leading down to possibly find a way to follow them, but he stopped in his tracks as a dark figure appeared right in front of them on the stairs. The four of them stepped back away from him, but they stood ready to fight with their weapons.

"What's the big idea?" Donald growled.

"Oopsy-daisy!" The man said. He had a more sarcastic tone to his voice, and he was clearly regarding them with amusement.

"Move!" Sora ordered.

The man shook his head. "Now, do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?"

"I said get outta the way!"

"Yeah, right. You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing. I'm not moving." The man said in the same amused tone.

"Then we're gonna have to make you move!" Corita growled.

The man let out a short laugh. "See, that would work...if I were just any old dude. 'Cept I'm not."

"You just keep telling yourself that." Corita said, rolling her eyes.

"Please! I'm with the Organization. Nothing 'any old' about me."

"Ha! Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkeys did the fighting!" Sora taunted.

"Oh, dear. I think you got the wrong impression." The man said, shaking his head.

"What's wrong? You gonna cry?"

"As if! Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?"

"Remind me?" Sora asked, taken aback. He quickly disregarded this, however. He glared at the man, and instead of leaving, the man gave another laugh.

"That's right! He used to give me that exact same look!" The man said in delight.

"Don't listen to him, Sora." Corita said. "Having no heart's clearly caused him to lose his mind."

"Ouch. That HURT." The man said sarcastically.

"So, you must think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff, huh?" Sora growled.

"Hmm...I just don't know." The man said in a deeper tone. He spread his arms, clearly preparing to attack them. Rather than striking, though, he created a portal of darkness right behind himself and stepped into it.

"Be good, now!" The man advised as he vanished.

"Wait!" Donald cried, running forward. Before he reached the man, however, he'd already vanished.

"That was weird. WHO gave him the same look?" Sora wondered.

"Don't worry, Sora." Corita said. "Like I said, he'd clearly lost his mind."

"Corita's right." Goofy agreed. "He was prolly just tryin' to confuse ya!"

"Yeah...you're right." Sora said, nodding. Reaching into his pocket, Sora pulled out the membership card he'd recieved a short time ago and read it again.

"The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member...what the heck?"

Sora dropped the card in surprise, as it had suddenly started glowing. Rather than falling to the ground, the card floated in the air, drifting a few feet above their heads.

"What's this?" Leon asked. He'd been re-opening the gate to the town, and he now approached them as they stepped back.

"Gawrsh, ya think?" Goofy wondered, looking at Sora. Sora nodded and held the Keyblade out in front of him, pointing it in a slant towards the ground. The others backed away from him as a crown symbol, similar to the end of the Keyblade, appeared on the ground under Sora. Wind swirled around him as a beam of light shot off of his card. It flew into the air until a bright flash revealed a large Keyhole. Sora held the Keyblade up, pointing it at the Keyhole. A beam of light shot out of the Keyblade and hit the Keyhole. With another bright flash of light, the wind died down and Sora's card floated down slowly. Sora reached out and snatched the card, and with a triumphant grin, turned to his friends.

"That must've been the gate Yen Sid talked about." Sora said in wonder.

"Oh boy!" Donald said in excitement.

"Sorry, Leon. Other worlds are calling." Sora said to him.

Leon looked at him sternly. "Organization XIII... They look tough. Be careful out there."

"Since when have we ever not?" Sora joked.

"Well, we should be off!" Corita said in excitement.

"Not so fast!" called Merlin's voice. Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy turned around and saw that Merlin stood several feet away.

"Oh...hi, Merlin!" Sora said quickly. "I've been working REALLY hard on the magic, trust me!"

"Yeah, yeah! Me too!" Corita added. They both grinned nervously at him.

Merlin laughed. "Don't worry, I've already pestered you enough about that for right now."

Sora and Corita both gave sighs of relief.

"I have something to show you." Merlin explained. "Follow me, if you will..."

Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy followed Merlin back through the gate to the town, and followed him the short walk to his house. They entered, and looked around.

"Erm...what is it you wanted to show us?" Sora asked.

Merlin smiled and waved his magic wand. A new door appeared, as if out of nowhere, on the side wall near several stacks of books. Merlin walked to it and opened the door. The door seemed to lead into a good sized hallway that only extended about 10 feet. There were 2 other door on each side of the hallway, however---Merlin opened the first door, and they all poured in.

They gasped in shock. Merlin had magically produced for them a large, cozy bedroom with everything from 3 beds to a giant bookshelf. Merlin walked over to it and began pulling books out and throwing them on one of the beds.

"This is Sora, Donald, and Goofy's room." Merlin explained, still pulling out books.

"And who's bed are you murdering with knowledge?" Sora asked as one bed was covered with books.

"Yours." Merlin said shortly.

"Oh..."

Merlin finished pulling out 'Fun with Fire!" and 'Defensive Magic for Fun and Profit' and added them to the pile on Sora's bed.

"Come with me, now." Merlin said, leaving the room and opening the door to the other room. It was smaller than the other, as it only needed one bed. There was another large bookshelf, but it seemed that Merlin had already taken several books of the shelf and had stacked them neatly at the foot of Corita's bed.

Corita squeaked with delight and snatched one of the books, titled 'Healing: Gift or Burden?' and flung herself onto her bed.

"See, Sora?" Merlin said cheerfully. "Why can't you be more excited about learning magic, like your sister?"

"Well, she's nuts." Sora said. Corita glared at him.

"Wait a second. Why is her pile of books all neat and tidy? You FLUNG mine onto my bed!" Sora cried.

Merlin gave him a stern look. "And maybe as you pile them neatly at the foot of your own bed, you'll find something interesting to read."

Sora groaned and trudged back into his room.

"Gee, thanks for all this, Merlin!" Goofy said, poking his bed.

"It's the least I can do." Merlin said. "I know you used to stay at that hotel in Traverse Town, but I thought this would be more comfortable.

"Hotel Corita?" Corita asked, bursting into the room.

Sora grumbled as he began neatly piling his stack of books at the foot of his bed. Merlin smiled at them.

"Now, get some rest, all of you." He said. "You'll have an early start tommorow."

Merlin left the room and shut the door to the hall behind him, re-entering his normal house. Once Sora was sure he was gone, he swiped his arm across his bed, sending his books tumbling in a random pile at the end of his bed. Corita sighed and sat on Donald's bed, and buried her nose back into her book.

"Do you mind?" Donald asked grumpily.

"What? Oh, no, I don't mind. By all means, keep glaring at me." She said.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, everyone!" Corita shouted in at excited tone. "Good morning!"

Sora and Donald grunted in their sleep and rolled over. Goofy, who was an early riser as well, burst into the room.

"I made pancakes in the random kitchen Merlin made for us!" He announced. Sora and Donald continued to sleep.

Corita walked over to Sora's bed. She leaned down and whispered something into his ear. Sora screamed and fell out of bed. Sora's scream woke Donald up, who very grumpily stood up.

"Whadya say?" Goofy asked.

"I told him Merlin had more books for him to read." Corita said, waltzing back to Goofy. "Come and get your pancakes while they're still hot! Sora, don't you dare lay back down on that bed!"

"Huh?" Sora said as he fell back into his bed. "What did you say?"

"Don't you dare lay back down on that bed?"

"Huh...weird."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing...what kind of pancakes are they?"

"Chocolate chip!"

"Yummy!" He squealed, and he lept out of bed and dashed to the random kitchen Merlin had made them. Goofy and a very unhappy Donald followed. Corita came in a few minutes later, fully dressed.

"Alright, I need lots of energy for...Healer stuff!" She said. "Feed me!"

"Yeah? Well I need lots of energy for Keyblade Master stuff!" Sora retorted.

"Aack!" Donald grumbled. "Do we have anything with caffeine in it?"

Goofy looked around the kitchen. "Hmm...we have chocolate chip pancakes with syrup and extra-sugary fruit drinks! Sugar is just as good, right?"

"Never mind..."

"Hey, Corita." Sora said, looking at her. "What's up with the necklace?"

"Oh, you noticed!" Corita said, excited. She put down her fork and looked down at it. "I thought my great new outfit needed such a great necklace, so I asked Merlin to make it for me!"

It was a silver chain that hung a short distance down her neck, and there was only one charm on it. It was her thalassa shell; it matched surprisingly well with her shirt.

"Don't you love it?" She squealed.

"Not really." Donald squawked grumpily.

"You'd better still have your shell." Corita growled. Donald gave a yell of fright and quickly produced his out of his pocket.

A soft knock came on the door. "Come in!" Goofy said cheerfully. Merlin entered, smiling at them.

"How do you like the new kitchen?" Merlin asked.

"It's great!" Goofy said. "Pancake?"

"No thank you, Goofy." Merlin said. "I just wanted to be sure you were off to a good start. We're going into town to work on more restoration projects, so we'll see you again really soon, alright?"

"Bye, Merlin!" The four of them said in unison. Merlin left and Goofy began cleaning up.

"We're off to the new world soon!" Sora said, excited.

"...You might want to change out of your pajamas first, Sora." Corita suggested.

"...I knew that."

-Sora53: Corita, we have an announcement.  
Corita: -squeal- You wanna try my ice cream?  
Sora53: No, it's.  
Fans: Your cooking STINKS!  
Joe: As much as I love you...I must agree with the Fans, even if they are evil.  
Roxas: MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! SHE'S RUINING THE GOOD NAME OF ICE CREAM! -eats ice cream-  
Corita: What?  
Sora53: I understand, you must be heartbroken.  
Riku Fangirls: -randomly appear- Hey, where'd this ice cream? It's pretty good!  
Everyone: O-o  
Corita: XD


	12. Sora's new brother

Sora53: You know, one night, when I was writing Memory's Rhapsody, I was watching Mulan at the same time...  
Fans: What's your point?  
Sora53: So, I've been thinking about this chapter for a long time!  
Fans: That's grand.  
Corita: -mumble- -mutter-  
Joe: What's wrong, my sweet?  
Corita: Sora53's being mean to me again.  
Joe: -evil glare- Sora53. Must kill.  
Sora53: O-o? 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except all mah original stuff, mainly including Corita and...erm...Sora's new brother. Technically the same person, but oh well. I'm sugar high as I'm typing this. Too many brownies. Now I'm rambling! Wheee...

"We're all set!" Goofy said cheerfully, climbing into the Gummi Ship. "Full speed ahead for the new world!"

"You might want to wait until we get in first, Goofy!" Donald sighed as he climbed in next.

"I still can't believe how nice this is!" Corita said brightly as she got in. "New books, new chairs..."

"Alright, NOW we're set!" Sora said as he closed the door to the Gummi Ship tightly. "Full speed ahead, Goofy!"

Goofy saluted him and sat in the pilot's chair. Donald quickly lept into the co-pilot chair before Sora or Corita could. Defeated, Sora and Corita settled to sit in the back. Goofy pressed several buttons, and the Gummi Ship was quickly off into the air.

"Alright, let's check the radar!" Goofy said after a few minutes. They were floating in space with Hallow Bastion shrinking away behind them as they sped along.

"Hmm...Sora, the gate you opened even shows up on this map!" Donald remarked.

"Really?" Sora wondered. He stood up and peered over Donald's shoulder. The radar beeped, showing them floating by Hollow Bastion. Another path led off to the southeast, with a tiny keyhole in the middle of the path.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Sora squealed. Donald rolled his eyes and Goofy hit the acceleration. Sora was knocked backwards by the speed, luckily being caught by a combination of his sister's outstretched hands and the back of his chair. They zoomed quickly through space for a short time, until a glowing Keyhole shone in front of them. It was huge; it hung before them, shimmering with various colors.

"So...that's the gate?" Corita asked.

"Seems like it." Goofy said. "Everyone hold on!"

Goofy hit the acceleration again, and they flew straight into the Keyhole. The colors spun around them very quickly, creating a blur. They spent only about 10 seconds flying through the gate, and the gate opened into what seemed like a different world.

"What is all this?" Sora wondered in awe. Corita was flipping through 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads' as fast as she could.

"This must be the gate. We have to pass through here to get to the new world!" Corita explained as she skimmed the chapters of the book. "Hmm...at the end of this path, there should be another Keyhole that we can fly through. That'll bring us back to the main path, and to the new world!"

"Aww...and I thought it'd be easier." Donald groaned.

"Think of it as a new adventure, Donald!" Goofy said.

The gate they were in seemed rather similar to the paths they'd flown through on their last journey. Various large obstacles such as meteors and other space debris scattered the path, while other debris flew at them. Goofy, being the master pilot he was, was able to avoid them easily. Unlike the main path, however, the gate was full of Heartless and Nobody ships.

"Heartless ships on the left!" Corita shouted, pointing out the window on her side of the ship.

"No problem!" Goofy said. He turned the ship quickly and blasted the ship into oblivion.

"You've got a dozen Nobody ships on your tail!" Sora shouted.

"Okay!"

"Wait! More Heartless ships!" Corita said.

"Well, the Nobody ships are more important!" Sora growled.

"Heartless ships!"

"Nobody ships!"

"Guys!" Goofy said loudly. "I'll blow them all up, okay?"

Sora and Corita smiled. "Thank you, Goofy." They said together. Donald sighed.

They made it through the gate within 10 minutes, blowing up enemy ships the whole way. Goofy hit the acceleration when he saw the shining end of the gate, and they sped through the Keyhole. They found themselves on the other side of the gate on the main path, with the Keyhole shimmering innocently behind them. The occupants of the ship breathed a sigh of relief; they'd made it through their first Gummi Gate.

"Okay, everyone!" Goofy said cheerfully. "The new world is coming up on the radar!"

"All right!" Sora and Corita said, leaping out of their seats to see it.

"Where should I land?" Goofy asked.

"Land in the forest; we'll be less noticeable that way." Sora suggested.

"Alrighty, here we go!" Goofy chortled, turning the Gummi Ship and preparing to land.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"'Land in the forest! It'll be less noticeable!'" Donald mimicked.

"Hey, how did I know we were going to land in the middle of nowhere and get lost?" Sora sighed.

The new world they'd landed in seemed peaceful enough; they were surrounded by trees, rocks, and bamboo. They were walking on a long tan path that winded through these woods and seemed to be taking them nowhere.

"Wait! Do you hear something?" Corita asked. All four of them stopped in their tracks and listened hard. They slowly continued on the path until it began to widen, and they saw it ended in a small bamboo grove. There was what appeared to be a soldier there, who was watching a large rock that stood before him. A dragon-like shadow was moving on the rock, and seemed to be speaking to the soldier.

"A Heartless?" Sora wondered.

"Let's get him!" Donald squawked. Nodding, Sora and Donald dashed ahead of Goofy and Corita, who quickly followed behind. The shadow on the rock turned to face them, and it vanished as a tiny red dragon ran from behind the rock and lept into the soldier's arms. The soldier turned away from them in fright, and Sora and Donald skidded to a halt. Corita and Goofy had to put their arms out to prevent running into them.

"Was that...Mushu?" Goofy asked.

"That's right, I know you heard of me! I'm little, lethal, and legendary! Now y'all scram before I go phycho dragon on y'all!" piped the little dragon. He poked his head up out of the soldier's arms to look at them.

"Mushu! We missed you!" Sora called to him.

"Yeah, well you better HOPE I miss YOU, or else you're..." Mushu began, but he looked closer at the group. Surprise filled his face. "You're...you're...Sora! Corita! Donald! AND Goofy! You're all here! What brings you 'round these parts?" He said.

"You know them?" The soldier that had been holding him asked curiously. Mushu hopped down and walked over to the group.

"Know them? Yeah, we went on all sorts of adventures together! Kicked some major bad guy booty...I've helped them out of a lot of tight spots! Cuz I'm a mighty dragon, right?"

Mushu leaned casually against Sora's leg. Mushu had, of course, helped them on their last journey. He'd been one of the allies Sora was able to summon after he released him from the gem his heart had been imprisioned in. When a world fell into darkness, a being with a strong heart was able to turn into that sort of gem, and Mushu certainly had a strong heart...in some ways.

The soldier looked at them nervously. He looked down at Mushu cautiously.

"Erm...something like that." Sora said in response to Mushu. "And you are?" He asked the soldier.

"I'm Mulan." The soldier said. "No, um, wait, I-I mean..."

"Ping! His name is Ping!" Mushu said quickly.

"Mulan Ping?" Goofy asked.

"Just...Ping. I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou." The soldier said in a deep voice.

"You know Mushu?" Sora asked.

"Mushu's one of my family's guardians."

"Gawrsh, we didn't know we were borrowin' somebody as important as a family guardian." Goofy mumbled.

"Yeah, that's right!" Mushu said as he scrambled onto Ping's shoulder. "And that puts you three up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here. Well, guess what, kiddies? It's payback time! See, Ping here was just on his way to join the Imperial army."

"Would you join us? It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys, like you." Ping said.

"What do you mean, 'fit in'?" Sora wondered.

"Well, um, uh, don't...don't worry about that." Mushu said quickly.

"You're pretending to be a boy, aren't you?" piped a voice from behind them. Sora and Donald looked behind them, and saw that Corita was standing there, an akward look on her face.

"What the!" Sora cried, leaping back in surprise. He turned to Ping. "You're a...girl!"

Ping looked at Sora and Donald nervously. "You didn't notice?"

"Not me!" Sora said, shaking his head.

"Nope." Donald squawked.

"I think it's working." Ping/Mulan whispered to Mushu.

"I dunno...these two would fall for anything." Mushu muttered, looking at Sora and Donald.

"Hey! We're right here!" Sora growled.

"Erm...WHY are you dressed like a boy?" Corita asked.

"Women aren't allowed to join the Imperial Army." Ping explained. "But I have to...I have to bring honor to my family."

"Wait a second." Sora said, alert. He turned to look at his sister. "That means..."

"Corita..." Goofy said slowly.

"We get to dress YOU up like a boy!" Sora squealed in delight.

Corita looked mortified. "What?"

"Tell you what, Ping." Donald said to her. "We'll meet you back here in a half hour. We need to get back to the Gummi Ship!"

"Come on, Corita!" Sora said, dragging her by the arm.

"No! Let me go! Let me go!" Corita cried, struggling against him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually, Sora, Donald and Goofy had managed to get Corita into the Gummi Ship, and convinced her that the only way she'd be able to join the Imperial Army was for her to dress like a boy. She stood in front of Sora now as Donald and Goofy searched the back rooms, rummaging through various drawers to find her new clothes. Sora looked at her sternly.

"Alright, Corita." He said.

"Can't I just sit this world out? You know, wait on the Gummi Ship?" Corita asked.

Sora shook his head. "We need your help. Now...necklace." He ordered.

Corita looked very depressed as she took off her necklace and handed it to her brother. Sora took it and put it in a small box he held, labeled 'Girl Stuff'.

"Gloves." Sora ordered. Corita took off her gloves and handed them to him, and he threw them in the box as well. "Shoes." He ordered next. She sheepishly took those off as well, and gave them to him.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora called. "You guys ready yet?"

"Yep! Bring her in!" Donald shouted. Corita sighed and trudged into the back room.

"We found one of your old outfits, Sora." Goofy said, holding up the red clothing.

"Perfect!" Sora said brightly. "All right, Corita, go into the other back room and change."

"Into that?" Corita cried, pointing at the outfit.

"You have to." He said sternly.

Corita sighed, grabbed the set of clothing, and dragged them to the other back room. In a few minutes, she came sheepishly into the room, Sora's old clothes on her. They were looser than they had once been on Sora, but they still fit well enough to disguise her.

"It looks great!" Sora said in delight.

"I feel like an idiot." Corita said grumpily.

"Hmm...there's something missing..."

"My dignity?"

"No! You need a new hairstyle!"

"What? What's wrong with my hair?"

"You're supposed to be a boy, remember? Come with me!"

Sora dragged Corita over to a rather large drawer. He pulled it open, and Corita was shocked to see various hair products inside. Sora sat Corita in a chair in front of a mirror, and began pulling out hair products.

"Now, Corita." Sora said, taking out a rather large bottle of a sinister-looking substance. "I am going to share the secret to my hair-based success with you. It's this hair gel."

"It looks like tar." She said nervously.

"Don't worry about that." Sora said as he took off his gloves and poured some of the hair gel into them. "Now, close your eyes..."

Corita shut her eyes, and she felt Sora's hands, which were covered in the gel, run through her hair. Her hair already fell in tufts, but they wilted over her head rather than staying spiked up like Sora's. Sora quickly fixed this situation by using his special hair gel, and within minutes, Corita's hair was almost as spiky as his.

"Tada!" Sora announced. Corita nervously opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. She gasped when she saw what Sora had done with her hair. She stood up and looked down at herself; she did look a lot like Sora at a quick glance.

"Not bad, Sora." Donald complimented.

"Gawrsh, you two are the spitting image of each other!" Goofy said.

"Yeah, I didn't do too bad of a job, huh?" Sora said happily, looking at Corita.

"I feel stupid..." She muttered, looking at herself in the mirror again.

"Aw, come on, Corita! It could be worse!" Sora said. Corita glared at him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ping! We're back!" Donald called as they walked into the bamboo grove where Ping and Mushu were waiting.

"Yeah, and we brought...Corita?" Sora started to say, but then realized that Corita wasn't behind him. He turned all the way around, and saw a stripe of red cloth hidden behind a tree.

"Corita...come out!" He called.

"I feel silly..." Sora heard her moan.

"Corita..." He sighed. He walked over to the tree and dragged her out from behind it. Sora and his new 'brother' trudged into the bamboo grove. Corita looked sheepishly up at Ping.

"Not bad!" Ping said in an attempt at a man's voice.

"Are we ready to go?" Donald asked.

"One hundred percent!" Mushu cheered. "The Imperial camp is right down this path! Let's go show 'em what Mulan...er, Ping...is made of!"

"Oh, that's right! You need a new name!" Sora realized, looking at Corita. Donald snickered.

"You're never going to let me forget this, are you?" She sighed, looking at him.

"Nope."

"How about Aros?" Sora suggested. Everyone in the bamboo grove stared at him.

"What? That's just your name backwards!" Corita cried.

Sora shrugged. "It'll work well enough."

"Arrgh! By becoming a boy, I've become Sora's living shadow!" Corita/Aros sobbed. "Do I still get to use my staff, or is that too 'girly'? Do I have to put that in your cardboard box, too?"

"No. we need your magic."

"Oh, for goodness sakes..."

Roxas: -is eating Sea-salt ice cream- What'd I miss?  
Fans: Oh, Sora53's being chased and hopefully killed again.  
Roxas: What? Are the Riku Fangirls on the move again?  
Fans: Nope. It's Joe.  
Roxas: Joe? He's usually so docile...  
Corita: Sora53 was being mean to me.  
Roxas: That explains it.  
Sora53: AHHH!  
Joe: MUST KILL! MUST KILL!  
Sora53: Corita! Call off your fanboy!  
Corita: Aw, I'm sorry! He's usually so docile...  
Joe: KILL!


	13. Identity Issues

-Sora53: Wow, it's been forever since I've updated. Sorry, everyone.  
Fans: -sigh- what's your excuse THIS time?  
Sora53: Sickness, puppies, final exams, and...the system trying to keep me down!  
Corita/Sora: O-o?  
Sora53: ...never mind. Sowwy this chappie is so short, too...during the summer I'll be able to write lots XD  
Fans: -rolls eyes- great...  
Joe: Fwee! More Corita! 

Dislcaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything related to it. I do own Corita...and you don't.

Corita bitterly trudged along behind Sora, Donald and Goofy as Mulan led them along the bamboo path. He...or she, rather, claimed that the army training camp where they needed to sign up wasn't far off.

"How are you doing back there, Aros?" Sora called cheerfully to her.

"Sora, you're enjoying this a little too much." Corita sighed. "And why do you have to call me that?"

"What would you rather be called?"

"I dunno. Anything but Aros."

"How about Goofy?" Goofy suggested.

Donald rolled his eyes. "That's YOUR name, you big palooka..."

"We could always call you Riku." Sora sniggered.

"Oh, hilarious."

"What about Hayner? Or Pence?" Donald laughed.

"Mulan! Help me!" Corita cried.

"They all sound fine to me." Mulan said. Mushu was perched on her shoulder, laughing his head off at each new suggestion. After his laugher ceased, they walked on in silence for about 10 more minutes, until the path began to widen and the trees around them grew sparse. Eventually, they could see the camp in front of them.

The encampment was decent in size; tents were scattered all around them, small enough to hold only a few people each. They looked around them as they walked into and through the camp. A line stretched ahead of them; they headed for it slowly.

"What's this line for?" Sora wondered as they gathered single-file into it.

"'Bout time we got some grub." Growled a short man, clad in armor. He shoved his way in front of Sora, who was knocked back.

"Hey, no cutting!" Sora cried.

"Get to the back of the line!" Donald shouted. The man turned around and swung his arm at Sora. Sora was knocked back onto the ground. Donald glanced down at Sora, mumbled something about 'bringing the pain', and pounced on the man.

"Back off!" The man shouted, swinging at Donald.

"Hey, a space in line!" Another man said, coming forward. "Thanks, Yao!"

"Yao's a bit busy right now, Ling." Said a third man, much larger than the other two.

"Ling! Chien-Po!" The man named Yao, who was now taking on Sora and Donald single-handedly. "I could use some help!"

Donald came flying out of nowhere and knocked Ling down, and he began beating him with his feathered arms. Sora was now fighting Yao, who was powerful for his size. Goofy, Chien-Po, Mulan, and Corita merely watched from the sidelines.

"Is...this how all boys solve problems?" Corita wondered, whispering to Mulan.

"Most of the time." Mushu whispered back.

"Please stop!" Mulan said, loud enough for the group to hear her. The fighting stopped instantly, and the fighters turned to look at her.

"Please?" Ling chortled.

"What a wimp!" Yao chuckled.

"She...um, he means...knock it off!" Corita said in a gruff-sounding voice.

"Knock what off?" Yao asked sarcastically.

"You punched me!" Sora said incredulously.

"You were cutting in line!" Donald shouted.

"Let's just get back in line, okay?" Corita suggested.

Sora gave her a betrayed look. "Whose side are you on? I just got slugged!"

"Want some more?" Yao growled.

"Soldiers! Get back in line!" Shouted a commanding voice.

"The Captain!" Ling hissed. He lept up and stood as still as a post, and Yao followed suit; Chien-Po stood behind them. Sora and Donald took the hint, and lept into line. Goofy, Corita and Mulan quickly snapped into place right before the captain began walking along their line.  
He was a tall, muscular man, wearing armor and a red cape. He glared at each of them as he walked along, and the soldiers stood stock-still until he turned around and entered the large tent at the front of the camp. Once he was gone, Sora smiled.

"Time for some revenge!"

"Um, Sora?" Goofy said, pointing to the ground. Sora turned his eyes away from Yao to look at the Shadow Heartless that were appearing all around them.

"What ARE they?" Mulan asked as she took out her sword.

"Heartless!" Sora replied quickly, summoning his Keyblade and leaping into battle. He was quickly followed by Corita, Donald and Goofy.

"Oh yeah?" Yao growled. "Let's get 'em!"

Yao lept into battle, followed by Ling and Chien-Po. Mulan sighed and began helping with the battle.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Piece of cake!" Donald chortled.

"How do you fight in these shoes?" Corita complained. "They're huge! And I have a bit of a problem..." She whispered to Sora.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"How much of that hair gel did you use on my hair?"

"Why?"

Corita reached up and pulled on a tuft of her hair. It refused to bend; Corita continued to try and bend it while Sora blinked.

"Hmm...I guess I did use a little too much..."

"You!" The captain's rough voice called. Sora and Corita flinched and turned quickly.

The captain's fierce eyes were looking at them, as well as Donald, Goofy and Mulan. "What are your names?" He asked.

"Sora!" Sora said quickly.

"Donald!"

"Goofy!"

The captain turned to look at Corita. "You?"

"Oh, I'm...um..." Corita stuttered.

"His name is Aros!" Sora said quickly. At the same time, Donald shouted "Riku" and Goofy said "Hayner". The captain glared at them.

"He has 3 names?" He growled.

"No!" Corita said quickly.

"Then what is it?" He shouted.

"It's...um...Corito!" Corita shouted quickly. Sora, Donald and Goofy blinked. Corita turned her head to look at them, and shrugged.

"You're welcome in my troop. Your battle skills are encouraging." The captain said.

Mulan cleared her throat. "I am the son of..."

"You should return home." The captain said, turning away from her.

Mulan looked shocked. "B-but... That would dishonor my family and..."

"You would rather dishonor my troops?"

"Please give Ping a chance!" Sora pleaded. "He's really strong! Just give him a chance to prove himself!"

The captain looked at Mulan for a few moments. "I suppose a simple assignment can't hurt. Our orders are to ambush Shan-Yu's army on their way here. They should be coming through the mountain pass."

"No problem!" Donald said.

"You will be the advance party. Scout out the mountain for my troops."

"Great!" Corita said brightly. "I mean...uh...we'll smash them!"

Sora sniggered. Corita jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

"Your mission is to secure the path over the summit so our company can pass. I've authorized you to be let through to the summit. Don't let me down!"

"SIR!" They shouted in understanding. He nodded and walked away.

"That's the captain, huh? No wonder you were nervous about going into the camp." Sora said.

"Captain Shang is pretty tough." Mulan said. "I'm thankful he's giving me a chance to prove myself..."

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The group left the camp as quickly as possible, being delayed for a brief time due to Yao's group pestering them about their mission. Goofy and Corita had to grab Sora and drag him away to avoid another confrontation and make themselves look bad in front of Shang. Now, Sora was talking to Mulan and Mushu and Goofy was talking to Jiminy. Donald was busy making fun of Corita's name choice. Every few minutes, he would blurt out 'Corito', and burst into gales of laugher. Corita's face grew redder and redder as they walked.

"I was under pressure!" She complained. "You would've panicked, too!"

"Probably not."

"You...!"

"Quiet, guys!" Goofy said. "We're supposed to be lookin' out for bad guys. How can we if you two are bickerin' the whole way up?"

Corita and Donald fell silent.

"There you go!" Jiminy said, hopping off of Goofy's shoulder and landing in Corita's hair.

"Ow!" He cried. "That used to be a soft landing!"

"Sorry, Jiminy." Corita sighed, plucking him gently out of her hair and placing him on her shoulder. "Sora used a little too much hair gel..."

"It wasn't my fault!" Sora moaned. "I was caught up in the excitement of the moment!"

"You'd lost your mind."

"That's not true..."

"You're right. You didn't have one to lose in the first place."

"How's your journal coming, Jiminy?" Donald squawked.

"Not bad at all!" Jiminy said happily.

"Lemme see." Corita said. Jiminy handed her the notebook, which was small enough so that he could write in it but the others could read it as well.

"Hmm...'Corita seems to be having identity issues. So far in this world, she's had several different names, including Aros, Riku, and Corito'! Jiminy!"

"Well, It's true!" Jiminy said, taking the journal back. "I'm just here to record the truth!"

"I'm never going to be able to live this down, am I?" Corita sighed.

"Nope." Sora said merrily.

-Sora53: -eats a chocolate chip cookie- Guess what this is!  
Fans: What?  
Sora53: The thirteenth chapter!  
Roxas: -scream- -faints- -eats ice cream-  
Sora: How does he manage it?  
Sora53: Anyway, guess what tommorow is?  
Corita: The last day of school for you!  
Sora53: WHO TOLD YOU!  
Corita: Isn't it obvious?  
Joe: Corita knows all! DON'T QUESTION HER!  
Sora53: Um, sorry?  
Joe: ...good. You can live.  
Sora53: Whoot! I get to live!  
Riku Fangirls: The night is young. -evil grin-


	14. Journey up the mountain

-Sora53: Finally! I'm done with exams! To celebrate, here's a shiny new chapter XD   
Fans: Erm, thanks?  
Sora53: Don't mention it XD   
Roxas: How do you think you did on your exams, Sora53? -eats ice cream-  
Sora53: Erm...-slinks away-  
Riku Fangirls: _**WHERE'S RIKU?**_  
Sora53: Eep! He won't be in the story for a long time!  
Riku Fangirls: **_RIKU!_**  
Sora53: AHHH!  
Corita: Ahh, Sora53 being chased. All is right with the world. 

Dislclaimer: I don't own anything but my OC, Corita. Or Corito. Depends on who ya are.

The mountain path that they were walking along was infested with various forms of Heartless, which appeared in droves but were easily defeated by the group. Despite the fact that they were so easily defeated, the group was exhaused by the time they reached the top of the mountain path. They looked down the mountain, and they could see the camp at the foot of it. It was nestled in among the trees and rocks that scattered the area.

"Wow...we've come a...long way..." Sora panted.

"We're almost to the summit." Mulan said, pointing up the path.

"Okay, so we've secured the path." Corita sighed, leaning against a rock and breathing heavily. "Now how do we let the troops know it's safe to come up?"

"Oh, that's no problem!" Mulan said brightly. She whipped a small firecracker out of her pocket, but frowned slightly.

"Now, how should I light it...?"

Donald walked forward, and whisked his staff to his side. He shot a few sparks into the air, and Mulan held the firecracker up to light it. The firecracker caught fire, and Mulan released it into the air. It shot upwards and exploded in the sky; the signal would clearly be seen by the camp below.

"Thanks, Donald." Mulan said, smiling at him.

Donald chuckled. Corita rolled her eyes.

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While they waited for the other troops to make their way up the mountain, the group merely sat around, either staring at the ground or each other. After some time, they heard Yao's distinctive voice yelling at his companions.

"Let's go, ladies!" they heard him yell.

"Why aren't you helping?" Ling's voice answered.

"Because I'm leading the way!"

"Guys! We're up here!" Sora called down the mountain.

"Who said that?" Yao's voice replied angrily.

"It sounded like the spiky-haired punk you beat up." Ling's voice said to Yao.

"Hey! He didn't beat me up!" Sora called angrily.

"Sora, shut up!" Donald screeched.

After a few more minutes, Yao's group had reached them. Ling and Chien-Po were carrying their equipment, and Yao merely walked past Sora without a glance at him.

"Hey! You could at least say hi!" Corita growled.

"'Hi'?" Ling chuckled, dropping the equipment.

"I mean...stand and fight, you coward!" Corita snarled.

Yao turned to face her. "You wanna fight?"

"You bet he does!" Donald squawked.

"Donald!" Corita hissed.

"Let's just keep going up the mountain for now, fellas." Goofy said quickly.

Mulan nodded. "Besides, if the Captain..."

"What about the Captain?" a voice said behind them. Everyone turned their attention away from each other to see that Shang stood behind them.

"Nothing, sir!" Mulan said quickly.

"Good work, soldiers." Shang complimented, walking past them. "There's a village not far from here. I'm sure we can stay there for now and plot our next move."

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers said as he passed them. He moved forward and looked at Mulan.

"I'll let you join my troops... But I'm still not convinced you have what it takes to be a worthy soldier."

Mulan smiled. Sora and Corita shared looks of disbelief.

"Why not? Mu...Ping did a great job securing the mountain path!" Sora complained.

"It's all right, Sora. I'll find a way to show him what I'm made of. Just give me a chance." Mulan said in a bold voice.

Shang smiled. "That's the spirit."

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Donald shivered. The mountain path had become very snowy, and they were surrounded by huge piles of white snow. Every gust of wind brought loose snow flying at them, spiraling in the air. Ahead of him, the others weren't having an easier time.

"How...much farther...to the village...?" Donald asked.

"How are we...supposed to know?" Corita answered through chattering teeth.

"Don't worry, guys!" Goofy said cheerfully. "Pretty soon we'll be at the village, sitting around a warm fire and telling spooky stories!"

"Right now, I just wish I could feel my hands." Sora said.

"The village shouldn't be far off." Mulan told them. "It's right at the summit."

"Will there be warm fires there?" Donald asked.

"Of course."

"Thank goodness..." Donald sighed.

Another gust of wind hit them, nearly freezing them in their tracks. They continued to tromp through the snow, following the others ahead of them.

Poor Jiminy, who'd been seeking anywhere to escape the cold, had once again tried to find refuge in Corita's hair. When he found that the cold air had frozen it beyond the point of manageability, he'd abandoned his usual perch and was now curled up in one of Sora's pockets.

After a long, exhausing journey, they found themselves at the gate of a small village. It certainly wasn't extravagent, but it was more welcoming than the mountain. Small buildings stood everywhere, and people ran out of their homes to see the soldiers. Corita and Sora blinked, surprised by all the attention.

"What's with them?" Mushu wondered, peering out from behind Mulan's shoulder.

"Don't forget. We're the soldiers that are supposed to get rid of Shan-Yu." Mulan whispered.

"Yeah, yeah." Donald muttered. "Where can we go to find a fire?"

"Line up, soldiers!" Shang barked at them. They quickly assembled themselves into a line to avoid his wrath.

"We'll be camping here tonight." He announced to the troops. "We'll be heading out early tommorow, so no sleeping in."

"Yes, sir!" The troops shouted. Shang nodded to them, then turned and entered his tent, which was noticably larger than the tents set up for the others.

"Finally! A chance to rest!" Donald said in relief, clamboring into the closest tent. He was followed by Goofy, Sora, Corita, and finally Mulan. Their tent wasn't the largest or most comfortable in the world, but it fit all of them and it was much warmer than the bitter mountain wind.

"Uh, hold on, guys." Mulan said, abandoning her tough-guy voice for a moment. She slipped back outside. Shrugging, the others snatched up all the blankets they could and wrapped them around themselves. With a sigh, they sat next to each other, soaking in the warmth.

After a few minutes, Mulan's head appeared in the entrance of the tent.

"Guys, can you come out here? Mushu wants to talk to us."

"Aww, if he wants to talk, he can come in here!" Donald complained. He was wrapped so tightly with blankets that he could barely move.

"Yeah, we just started to regain the feeling in our hands!" Sora told her.

"Alright..." she said. Her face vanished again, and in a few moments Mulan was re-entering the tent with Mushu perched on her shoulder. In the few moments that the tent entrance was open, a bitterly cold wind flew in, draining any warmth that had formed in the tent.

"What's up, Mushu?" Corita asked.

"I've got awesome news, all! The perfect chance for Mulan to prove herself!" Mushu explained in a rush. "See, when we arrived at the camp, I saw this real creepy guy, right? I just got this feeling that it's Shan-Yu!"

"Shan-Yu? Ain't that the bad guy we're after?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah! That's the Hun leader!" Sora cried. "We've got to tell the Captain!"

"Wait a second." Donald said, frowning. "You 'got this feeling'? How can we be sure you're right?"

"Believe me. You don't wanna mess with a guardian dragon's intuition!"

"Either way, if there's a suspicious guy wandering around, we should tell Shang." Mulan said.

"Woah! Whoa whoa WHOA!" Everybody use their heads. Now, why are we here?"

The people in the tent looked at each other with confused looks.

Mushu sighed impatiently. "To make the Captain see Mulan...well, Ping's talents and bring honor to her family."

"Right." They said, nodding.

"So, let's go find out where Shan-Yu is by ourselves. Then, if we're lucky, we can beat him up good! Though just tracking the guy down should earn us some credit... the Captain will have to notice my girl!"

"Aww...we're gonna have to leave the tent, aren't we?" Corita moaned. "It's cold out there..."

"For once, I agree." Donald sighed.

"Okay. Let's go." Sora said.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll help out." Corita said, standing up and peeling blankets off of herself. Sora, Goofy and Donald did the same as Mulan smiled.

"Thanks, guys."

"Alright, lead the way, Mushu!" Goofy said cheerfully.

"Right this way, my mighty warriors!" Mushu said, pulling back the tent flap. Another gust of wind blew in, knocking them backwards.

Joe: -le gasp- Corita? Cold? -prepares army of blankets-  
Corita: O-o oh dear. -hides-  
Fans: -yawn-  
Sora53: Aw, don't worry, Fans! Now that I'm out of school, I can write more, and more, and more...  
Fans: X-x Why...why...  
Riku Fangirls: -sob- Riku...Riku...  
Roxas: Hey...how come I don't have any fangirls? -eats ice cream-  
Roxas Fangirls: Eeeeeehhh...  
Roxas: XD


	15. The Reality of War

-Roxas: -is surrounded by fangirls-Sora: Where did he find all those fangirls so fast?  
Corita: Eh, most of them used to be Sora fangirls.  
Sora: -le gasp- What? Why are they Roxas fangirls now?  
Corita: Hmmm...maybe they think your hair is too spiky.  
Sora: MY HAIR IS NOT TOO SPIKY!  
Fans: -snore-  
Sora53: Here's a shiny new chapter for y'all XD   
Fans: Why are ALL of your new chapters 'shiny'?  
Sora53: I was so depressed when playing through the Mulan world...what happened to the poor villagers?  
Fans: Raise your hand if you care...  
Joe: I CARE!  
Fans: -rolls eyes-  
Sora53: So I answered the question XD Much like the 'giving Sora abilities' debacle in the Olympus Coliseum...ah, flashback time!  
Fans: We don't have time for a flashback! This annoying intro has become long enough! 

Disclaimer: I continue to own nothing! Well, except Corita. AND THAT'S MORE THAN YOU HAVE, PUNK!

Mushu quickly led them through the village; most of the people had retreated into their homes because of the cold winds, and most of the soldiers were in there tents, no doubt covered in blankets. The group headed to the back end of the village, where an exit led to a path further up the mountain.

"We're not gonna have to climb more, are we?" Donald sighed.

"Nope!" Mushu said cheerfully. He turned to his right, and the others looked in that direction as well. Nestled in among the cliff and rocks was a small opening.

"A cave?" Mulan wondered, moving in closer.

"I saw Shan-Yu creepin' around here." Mushu explained. "He must be hidin' out in that cave, waiting for the opportune moment to STRIKE!"

"You're getting a little too emotional about this." Corita sighed.

"Whatever. Let's go in!" Sora squealed.

"Sora...you sound like a 5-year-old." Corita said.

Sora gave her a sour look. "Since when did you become Miss Maturity?"

"Ahem. Corita is perfectly immature." She said with a bold voice. "Corito, on the other hand, is not."

Sora blinked. "You don't need to come up with a whole new personality...besides, if you're supposed to be my twin brother, shouldn't you be just like me? You know, immature?"

Corita sighed. "I'm just trying to lighten up the situation..."

"Um, can we go inside?" Donald growled. "My feet are freezing!"

"Maybe you should wear shoes, Donald." Goofy suggested.

Donald began to mumble as they headed into the cave. The inside was dark and cold, though the winds were halted at the entrance. Once all of them were inside, they began to walk down the winding path that led into the cave's depths.

"So...what exactly is the situation that you're trying to 'lighten', Corita?" Sora asked.

"Well, I'm pretending to be a boy, I'm freezing cold, I have the Captain breathing down my neck, and I don't think my hair will ever be the same again." Corita said in a single breath.

"Hmm...just like me." Mulan said. "Although my hair isn't frozen solid..."

"Yeah...heh...I may have used a bit too much hair gel." Sora said with a nervous smile. "I was caught up in the excitement of the moment, you know?"

Corita sighed again, and they continued along the path in silence. They only had to walk about 15 more seconds until they reached a large cavern. It seemed to be a shrine; Sora walked to the center of it and looked around carefully.

"It looks like a dead end." He sighed.

"You're crazy. Check again!" Mushu said in shock.

"There aren't any other paths." Corita said, checking. "It really is a dead end."

"And there's nobody here..." Mulan sighed.

"Oh, well." Donald said. "No point in staying here. I'm going back to the tent where it's warm."

Donald turned around and began to walk back down the path.

"Wait for me, Donald!" Goofy said, turning and running to catch up with him.

"I hate to admit it, but I agree with Donald." Corita said, leaving Mulan, Mushu and Sora standing in the cavern to catch up to her friends.

"What's up, guys?" Corita said, pushing her way in between Donald and Goofy, who'd been walking next to each other.

"I'm freezing." Donald grumbled.

"Maybe you should get some shoes." Goofy suggested.

"Or maybe..." Corita began, but she didn't get the chance to finish. A low rumbling was emanating from the cavern that they had just left. The friends turned around and ran back towards the cavern.

"Sora!" Corita shouted into the darkness. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Sora's voice cried. They turned a corner, and saw that Sora and Mulan were fighting a pack of Heartless.

"Come on!" Goofy shouted, taking out his shield and running to help. Donald did the same with his staff, and Corita began casting spells.

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"Whew...nice job, everyone!" Mulan panted after the Heartless had been defeated.

"Nice job yourself, Mulan!" Sora said with a grin. "You were amazing!"

Mulan blushed. Corita turned to face Sora.

"Where did all the Heartless come from?"

"Dunno." Sora said.

"I'm still freezing, you know! Let's go back to the tent!" Donald grumbled.

"Keep your shoes on, Duck Boy." Mushu said, hopping off of Mulan's shoulder.

"I don't have any shoes!" Donald snarled.

"Yeah, and only I'm allowed to call him Duck Boy!" Corita growled.

"Whatever. Either way, it's time to report to the Captain!"

"But Shan-Yu wasn't here." Goofy said.

"Please! That Hun is old news!" Mushu chuckled. "We're gonna tell the ol' Captain how thousands of Heartless stormed the cave, and Ping took out almost every one of 'em!"

"Huh...not a bad idea." Corita said after thinking it over for a moment.

"Yeah, let's go!" Sora said boldly.

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As the team exited the cave, the scene that met their eyes was almost unbelieveable. They had been in the cave for no less than a half hour, yet in that time the village had been reduced to nothing but ashes and rubble. They all stared in disbelief at the ruins of the village for a few moments, trying to overcome their shock.

"This can't be..." Corita choked.

"How could this happen...?" Sora said softly.

They gingerly walked to the village's exit and stepped through. All around then, the charred remains of buildings stood, still smoking. They had clearly just been on fire, only going out a few minutes before.

A sudden movement to their side alerted then that someone was there. Turning, they saw that Captain Shang was leaning against a charred wall, clutching his side.

"Captain!" Mulan cried, running to him.

"Are you alright, Captain?" Sora said, dashing over.

"I'm...fine..." Shang gasped. "It's just a scratch..."

Shang slid down the wall a few inches with a groan. Sora and Goofy gently grabbed him and slid him the rest of the way to the ground. He now sat leaning against the wall.

"The enemy, Captain! Where did they go?" Mulan asked.

Shang looked up at her/him. "They went...towards the summit..."

The Captain groaned again in pain. Corita stepped forward, her staff in hand.

"Here, Captain. This should help..."

Corita cast a cure spell on Shang; as the light surrounded him, he lifted his head and looked at her.

"Thank you, soldier."

"Uh...no problem!" Corita said in her 'tough voice'.

"You...you can heal?"

"Y-yeah..."

Shang stood up carefully. He looked down at her with a stern face.

"The villagers who were able to escape fled down the mountain to a small cave. Go and see if any of them are injured. That's an order."

Corita looked up at him with wide eyes, and nodded.

"You four." Shang said to Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mulan. "Continue up the mountain...defeat the ones who did this..."

"Don't overdue it, Captain!" Sora warned as Shang took a few careful steps.

"I can't stay here and do nothing." Shang growled.

"You have to take care of yourself first." Goofy said in his usual jolly tone. "We'll take care of the bad guys for ya!"

Sora looked up at Corita, who was staring at the ground. She looked up after sensing his gaze, and smiled.

"Don't worry, guys. I won't be long." She said.

Sora grinned. "You sure you don't need any help?"

"You guys go do what you have to." Corita said. "Besides, this is a great chance to test my magic!"

Donald rolled his eyes. "You just want to show off..."

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The group had split at the village, with Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mulan heading up the mountain, and Corita taking the path back down. As they headed up the mountain, the snow grew thicker and more difficult to walk through. Luckily, the group before then had blazed a path...though they couldn't tell if the path had been made by allies or enemies.

"This doesn't feel right..." Sora sighed. "We shouldn't be separating at a time like this..."

"Hey, we're soldiers, right?" Goofy said to him. "The Captain gave us an order, so we kinda have to follow it..."

"Yeah...and what happened to the village was kind of our fault." Donald squawked.

"You mean MY fault." Mushu said sadly. He was once again perched on Mulan's shoulder.

"Don't think like that!" Mulan said to him.

"Shan-Yu and the Heartless did it, not us! It's payback time." Sora growled.

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Corita traveled back down the mountain a short way, as directed by Shang. Looking around, she saw that she was surrounded by cliffs, but she couldn't see a cave anywhere.

"Aurgh, where is it?" Corita grumbled to herself.

"It's hidden amongst those rocks over there; you should've looked closer!"

If Corita wasn't used to it, she probably would've been startled of the tiny voice speaking in her ear.

"Jiminy! You came with me?" Corita asked. She looked to her side, and the little cricket was perched on her right shoulder.

"I thought you'd be lonely." Jiminy said cheerfully.

"Even though my hair is as solid as a rock?"

"Well, you win some and you lose some."

Corita headed towards where Jiminy directed her, and found a small cave opening in the side of the mountain.

"Good eye, Jiminy!" Corita complimented. "How did you see it...?

"One learns to look for these kinds of things when they themselves are so small." Jiminy admitted.

"I still think It would've been more productive for your journal if you'd gone with Sora..."

"Oh! I...didn't think of that..." Jiminy said. "But I can always get the story from them later!" He chirped cheerfully.

Corita smiled and carefully crept into the tiny entrance. Although she was expecting to find herself in a small pathway, the entrance actually opened into a rather large path.

A few people she recognized from the village were sitting against the wall near the entrance. They looked up when she entered, and observed her with caution. If they hadn't recognized her from the village as well, they probably would've considered her an enemy.

"It's okay." Corita said in a soothing voice. Then, remembering that she was still supposed to be a boy, returned to her 'tough' tone.

"Um...I've been sent by Captain Shang to help!" She said boldly. "Do you have any injured villagers who need healing?"

"When can we go back to the village?" Asked a little girl. She was still sitting on the ground, but she stood up and walked over to Corita. She peered up at the Healer with wide eyes.

"Um...when Captain Shang says you can!" Corita said nervously.

Of all of the enemies she'd fought and challenges she'd overcome, talking to the little girl was one of the hardest things Corita had done. She almost sighed with relief as the girl and the others led her into the cave where the others were waiting.

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"Well, this is depressing." Donald grumbled. They had almost reached the summit, but the path had ended before them and merely opened into a snowy slope that appeared almost impossible to climb.

"Gawrsh, are we really gonna have to climb that? It looks pretty steep!" Goofy said.

"I don't know...I don't see any footprints..." Sora muttered, looking around. "That must mean the others haven't come by yet! We should wait for them first, don't you think?"

"Wait, the footprints we were following just end?" Donald asked in surprise.

"I...guess they do..."

Donald kicked a pile of snow bitterly. As he did, a screech overhead startled him, causing him to fall right into the snow. The screech had come from a hawk, which was flying to the top of the steep slope.

"That hawk...!" Mulan said in shock.

"What? It's just a hawk, isn't it?" Sora asked.

A man appeared at the top of the slope, and the hawk landed on his shoulder. The man had a fierce face, and he wore several furs around his shoulders. His lank hair surrounded his face and framed his dark eyes. He grinned evilly down at them.

"Apparantly, that ain't just any old hawk." Goofy said.

"It's Shan-Yu!" Mulan cried.

"What, the hawk?"

"No! The man!"

"Oh...that makes more sense."

Sora53: Yeah, we're big on the caves in this chapter.  
Sora: Yo, Roxas!  
Roxas: -drags himself away from fangirls- Yeah? -eats ice cream-  
Sora: You take my fangirls...I TAKE YOUR ICE CREAM! -steals ice cream-  
Roxas: NUUUU! -dies-  
Sora53: Hey, Roxas! You can't die! This ficceh is rated G!  
Roxas: -comes back to life- Oh...sorry. -faints-  
Sora53: That's better.  
Joe: -is making a rubber band ball-  
Corita: Erm...Joe? Whatcha doin?  
Joe: NOTHING! -hides-


	16. Uncle Corito

Riku Fangirls: RIKU! RIKU! RIKU!  
Sora53: -grabs Riku out of nowhere- Here! Will this sedate ya?  
Riku Fangirls: RIKU!  
Riku: What, what are you doing to me?  
Sora53: -throws Riku to the fangirls-  
Riku: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
Fans: You are truly an evil genius.  
Sora53: I'm glad you finally appreciate my evil.  
Fans: By the way...IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU UPDATED!  
Sora53: O-o -hides- 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but mah oh-so-lovable OC. -hugs Corita-

Shan-Yu stared down at the group with his fierce eyes for a few more moments. As the team stared up at him, a few flying Heartless appeared around him. They weren't very large at all, and with their bright yellow bodies hovering a few feet above the ground, they appeared almost comical.

"THAT's Shan-Yu's mighty army?" Donald chortled, lowering his staff. "This is gonna be a piece of cake!"

As Donald spoke, several more Heartless had appeared from each side of Shan-Yu. Goofy elbowed him in the side and pointed up the cliff.

"I think ya might wanna look again, Donald!"

A few seconds later, and hundreds, if not thousands of the Heartless were flying down the cliff towards them. There were surprisingly quick, and they were almost down the cliff within a few seconds.

"Split up!" Sora shouted, and they each lept in different directions to fight off the Heartless.

The Heartless quickly organized themselves after reaching the bottom. They flew above the group, just out of reach of their weapons. However, they clustered together and attacked swiftly. Donald shot fire spells at them while Goofy and Mulan did their best to attack low-flying Heartless. Sora, having given up on attacking them as he normally would, was now pelting them with any magical spell he could conjure.

"There's too many of them!" Sora heard Mulan shout from his left. The Heartless were swooping in to attack, and they couldn't even see each other.

"You pathetic wimps!" shouted a gruff voice.

"Who said that?" Donald's voice shouted.

"You can't even handle a few Heartless..."

"Yao, that's more than a few..."

"Shut up, Ling. Either way, back off, ladies. We'll handle this!"

The Heartless around them grew thinner as they fought them off. Sora could now see that Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po stood at the entrance to the summit. Yao was carrying a rather sinister-looking cannon.

"Watch out!" Yao told them as he came forward. He dropped to the ground and began to aim the cannon at Shan-Yu, who still stood at the top of the cliff.

"We'll take out the leader of this whole thing!" Yao said gruffly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mulan said nervously, looking up. She turned her head slightly, and saw that there was another snowy cliff not too far off...

...In cannon range...

"Sorry!" Mulan said as she shoved Yao out of the way and grabbed the cannon. She then began to run up the slope, towards where Shan-Yu was. The Hun was now charging down the giant slope towards them.

"What are you doing!" Ling screeched.

Ignoring him, Mulan set the cannon carefully down in the snow. She aimed it at the cliff, and prepared to light it.

"Oh, no..." She muttered to herself after realizing that she didn't have any flint. She looked around desperately for something to light the fire with.

"What are you doing! Shan-Yu is coming!" Mushu cried. Mulan looked down, and the little red dragon had appeared at her side.

"Mushu!" Mulan said in relief. She picked him up quickly before he had a chance to run away. She pulled on him, pointing his mouth towards the cannon. A few embers shot out of his throat, lighing the cannon on fire.

"Yes!" Mulan said, dropping the little dragon, who landed on the cannon head. Unfortunately for him, the cannon shot off, taking him with it.

"What the heck?" They all heard Mushu shout as he shot through the air with the cannon. "You shot the cannon the wrong..."

BOOM.

The whole mountain shook as the other snowy cliff was hit with the cannon. A low rumbling noise filled the air as a huge avalanche fell from the cliff and towards the slope they were on.

"Perfect!" Mulan said as she stood up and dashed back to the others.

"Captain!" Sora said as Shang entered the summit with his footsoldiers.

Terror filled Mulan's face. She looked back at the snowy slope, with was quickly being engulfed in snow.

"Look out!" She cried, grabbing the captain by the hand and pulling him back behind some rocks. The others on the slope quickly followed her, and pretty soon they were all sitting behind the rocks, watching the snow roar past and fall off the edge of the cliff.

"Thanks, Ping." Shang said as the snow began to let up.

"It...was nothing." Mulan said boldly.

"I never should have doubted you." Shang said as he emerged from behind the rocks. The avalanche had stopped, and neither Shan-Yu nor the Heartless were anywhere to be seen. "From now on, you have my trust."

"Thank you, Captain." Mulan said, barely containing a grin.

"Aw, MAN! First I'm a lighter, then a cannonball...NO respect for such a noble guardian!" said a grumpy-sounding Mushu. He had popped out of the snow not too far away.

"You know what? That's it! I give up!" Mushu announced, looking down and brushing snow off of him. He walked over to Sora, Donald and Goofy, and continued looking down as he talked.

"Mushu..." Sora whispered in warning, but Mushu ignored him as he ranted.

"C'mon, Mulan. Let's quit this charade and go home, girl." Mushu finished. Sora, Donald and Goofy sighed.

"Mushu!" Mulan hissed.

"What?" Mushu asked. He looked up, and upon seeing that the Captain was standing next to her, clasped his hands over his mouth.

"Mulan? A woman?" Shang said softly. The Captain merely stood there for a few moments, then turned to Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"You all knew, didn't you?" Shang growled. "You knew that Ping was a woman in disguise!"

"Uh..." Goofy mumbled.

"Well..." Sora started.

"I..." Donald began, but they were all at a loss for words.

"I can't believe you lied to me." Shang sighed. "Get out of my sight...now. You're all dismissed. That includes your sister." He added to Sora.

"Why? She didn't do anything!" Sora cried.

"Um...Sora?" Goofy whispered to him.

"Oh, um, I mean, uh...he didn't do anything!"

Shang almost had an amused look on his face as he looked down at Sora. Sora continued to struggle with words, until he just gave up.

"How did you find out about her?" Donald asked.

"Only women are Healers." Shang said simply as he turned away from them.

"That's not true!" Sora shouted to him as he began to walk away. "I can heal! Look, I'll heal Donald right now!"

Sora brought his Keyblade down and, rather than healing him, merely bonked him him the head with the giant key instead.

"OW!" Donald shouted as Shang left the cliff with Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mulan...I blew it." Mushu said sadly as Mulan removed her bulky armor.

"It's okay." She said to him as she pulled her hair out of the tight bun it had been in. It fell down her face to near shoulder-length.

"I'm sorry I got you all in trouble." Mulan said sadly as she smoothed her clothes out. Having been under her armor, they were slightly wrinkled.

"Aw, don't worry about it." Goofy said soothingly.

"We were doomed from the start, anyway." Donald muttered.

"Why do you say that?" Sora asked.

"Because you have a big mouth!"

"...True."

"But Mulan, what are ya gonna do now?" Goofy asked.

"Go back home." She said as Mushu hopped onto her shoulders.

"You know, your daddy's gonna be steamed as a chicken dumpling." Mushu told her sadly. Mulan sighed.

Sora pulled Donald and Goofy into his arms and gave her a classic Sora cheesy smile. "Relax! We'll take our share of the blame."

"Thanks. You're all wonderful friends." Mulan said with a grin.

"Now, just one more thing..." Sora said as he released Donald and Goofy. "We have to get Corita before we do anything else."

"The Captain told her to head for a cave down the path from the village." Mulan recalled. "It shouldn't be too hard to find."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Aw, you beat me again!" Corita grumbled. "That's 3 in a row! Come on, once more!"

The little girl giggled as she sat back down on the floor of the cave. Corita, having completed her healing duties, was now playing tic-tac-toe with the children in the cave. The board was drawn in the dirt on the cave floor, but it was effective anyway. Sadly, her record was now similar to Sora's record of defeating Riku.

"C'mon, it's my turn!" A little boy complained.

"You played earlier!" Another boy grumbled. "I haven't gotten a chance to play yet!"

"What about me?" A younger girl sobbed.

"Children!" Corita said soothingly. "You'll all get a chance to play!"

"Me next!" They all said at once.

"I can't play you all at once!" She cried as they began to swarm her. "Uncle Corito's skills have limits!"

"YAY, UNCLE CORITO!" They all said as they tackled her. The adults in the cave watched with amusement.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they walked back to the ridge, they noticed that Shan-Yu's hawk seemed to be stalking them. Obviously, it had survived the avalanche, and it was now following them.

"Get lost, will ya?" Donald roared.

Surprisingly, the hawk flew away from them and down the cliff. Donald blinked.

"Wow, Donald, I didn't know you could talk to hawks!" Goofy chuckled.

A loud roar filled the air, and the group lept back in shock. Sora and Mulan quickly ran to the edge of the cliff, and peering down, they saw that Shan-Yu was marching through the snow far below, with a small group of Heartless.

"What the...how did he survive that avalanche?" Sora cried.

"He's heading for the Imperial City! We've got to warn Shang!" Mulan gasped.

"C'mon, we've gotta get Corita and get off the mountain as fast as we can!" Sora said, turning away from the cliff and running down the path.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How does this keep happening...?" Corita moaned as she was once again defeated. The children cheered as a boy claimed victory, and another young boy sat in front of her. He quickly cleared the board by swiping his hand through the dirt, and began drawing a new one.

"Um, Uncle Corito?" A little girl, who'd just appeared in the group of kids, said. "There are some people at the entrance askin' for you. They keep pronouncing your name wrong, though..."

"Hmm...let them in!" Corita said boldly.

"C'mon, let's play!" The little boy in front of her said anxiously.

"Alright." She said. By the time Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mulan had arrived in the cave, Corita had been beaten once again.

"Wow, Corita, you have quite a following." Sora said with a grin.

"Stop sayin' Uncle Corito's name wrong!" The little girl cried.

"'Uncle Corito'?" Donald said, stifling a giggle.

Corita glared at him. "I'll refrain from kicking you only because of the children."

"Uncle Corito is really Uncle Corita?" One of the young boys asked.

Corita grimaced. "Well, it should really be Aunt Corita..."

"You're really a girl?" One of the girls asked. The children looked at her in shock.

"Why are you all dressed up in boy clothes?"

Corita squatted down to the childrens' level. Very quietly, she whispered to them, "Shh...don't tell anyone... but I'm really on an undercover mission."

"Oooh! What are ya doin'?"

"I'm spying on this group here." She said, gesturing back to Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mulan. "But it's very secret, so don't tell anyone!"

"Why are you spying on them?" One of the little girls asked.

"Look at them." Corita said, gesturing to them again. "They're pretty suspicious to me. Don't you think?"

"Yeah!" All of the children yelled at once.

"But why do you have to be dressed like a boy?" The little girl asked.

"See, I'm a girl who dresses like a boy to mess with their heads." Corita whispered. "They think they've gotten my one dark secret figured out...but they really don't! You understand?"

"Yeah!" The children yelled again. "Yay Uncle Corito!"

The children began to swarm her, and as she was covered with children, Corita shouted, 'That's Aunt Corita, remember?'

"YAY, AUNT CORITA!"

"Who knew she had such a way with children?" Sora said as Corita vanished from sight under the pile of kids.

"It must be a girl thing." Donald sighed.

"You mean a girl dressing like a boy thing, Donald!" Goofy chuckled.

"Hey, Aunt Corita!" Sora shouted so he could be heard above the children's squeals. "It's time to go!"

"That's Uncle Corito to you!" A young boy said to him. Sora recoiled away from him.

"Honestly, Sora, you aren't going to melt if you come in contact with one..." Mulan said as she stepped forward and pulled Corita up,

"Alright, kids. Aunt Corita has to go now!" Corita said cheerfully.

"When will you be back?"

"Soon. I promise!"

"YAY!"

"No more tackling!" Sora cried as he dragged his sister out of the cave and away from her new posse.

Joe: -is still making a rubber band ball-  
Corita: O-o Joe, you've been working on that thing for ages.  
Joe: -eye twitch- It's still not big enough!  
Corita: But...it's bigger than your head...  
Joe: I don't have a problem! -eye twitch-  
Roxas: Hey, fangirls! Let's go get some ice cream, because we can!  
Roxas Fangirls: YAY! SEA-SALT ICE CREAM! -faints-  
Sora53: Hmm...Roxas, what's your favorite flavor of lollipop?  
Roxas: Sour Apple!  
sora53: -throws 429760 sour apple lollipops into a random lake-  
Roxas Fangirls: LOLLIPOPS! -dive into lake-  
Roxas: -sob- fangirls...?


	17. The Fight for China

-Sora53: Okay, so bits of this chappie seem almost rushed, but I have an excuse...  
Fans: -sigh- what now?  
Sora53: Writer's block.  
Corita: Wasn't that your excuse last time?  
Joe: And the time before that...and the time before that?  
Riku Fangirls: EXCUSE US! WHY HAS THERE BEEN NO RIKU?  
Sora53: Because he's been kidnapped by evil chipmunks.  
Riku Fangirls: NUUUU! -faints- 

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Kingdom Hearts games or it's characters or anything fun like that. I own Corita and nothing else. Meh.

"Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun." Corita said with a sly grin.

"Yeah, there's nothing more fun than nearly being buried in an avalanche." Donald said dully.

"And it sounds like you had a lot of fun, too." Sora replied.

"Oh, yeah. Nothing more fun than healing injured toes and developing a strange following..."

"At any rate," Mulan interrupted, "The Imperial City is that way. We have to warn Shang, remember?"

"Oh, that's right!" Sora said. "And, to finish the story, Shan-Yu is still alive and is heading for the Imperial City as we speak."

Sora had been filling Corita in on what happened on the mountain in her absence as they headed down the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain path, there was a small clearing with 2 paths branching off. One path led back to the army camp, while the other would lead them to the Imperial City.

"How did he survive an avalanche?" Corita wondered.

"Gee, I dunno, Corita." Donald said grumpily. "When we see him again, why don't you ask him?"

"What has you in such a bad mood?" She asked.

"I'm not in a bad mood!"

"You sure seem like ya are, Donald." Goofy chuckled.

"Well, never mind. Donald's always grumpy." Corita said, shrugging. "So...are we stopping at the gummi ship first, or..."

"Nope. We're heading straight for the city." Sora told her.

Corita groaned. "You mean I have to stay dressed as a boy?"

"Well, at least you don't have to act like one..."

"Oh, that's good to know." She said sarcastically.

The group turned and began walking along the path to the Imperial City. They were silent for a few moments, then Sora spoke again.

"So...how'd it go, Corita?" Sora asked, trying to get back on her good side.

"Thankfully there was nothing major." She said casually. "The worst thing I had to heal was a migrane...and I'm pretty sure the person only had one because the children were being..."

"Overexcited?" Donald suggested.

"Well...yes."

"That's quite a story you came up with, by the way." Sora commented.

"You've got some imagination, Corita!" Goofy chuckled.

"Well, I couldn't exactly tell them the real reason that I was dressed like this..."

"Why not?" Sora, Donald and Goofy said together. Corita and Mulan looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Because, guys." Mulan explained as Corita held back a laugh. "Did you really want her to tell then that she was dressed like a boy so she could enlist in the army, lie, and defeat China's greatest threat?"

"Ummm..." Donald muttered.

"I...guess not." Sora sighed.

"See? This is why woman are sensitive and caring, and guys enjoy fighting and proving that they're tougher than each other." Corita said.

"That is not true!" Sora blurted out.

"Ahem. Shall we look at the evidence?" Corita asked. She gestured to her staff.

"I'm a Healer. I help the sick and injured. I've saved your skin countless times. You're the Keyblade Master. You've been fighting with Riku since you guys were 4."

"Hmm...I...guess you have...a point..." Sora sighed.

* * *

After a short walk along the path, the Imperial City loomed ahead of them. The group rushed into the city just as Shang and his army were tottering in. His soldiers were clearly tired from marching for so long.

"Shang!" Mulan shouted, rushing to meet him. Shang stopped in his tracks and looked at her.

"Shan-Yu is alive! He's headed this way!" Mulan explained quickly.

Shang glared at her. "Why should I believe you this time?" He asked coldly.

"Because she's telling the truth!" Sora cried.

"Look! It's that stupid hawk!" Donald said, pointing to the sky. They looked up, and sure enough Shan-Yu's hawk was circling the city. The bird flew to one of the towers at the entrance to the palace.

Shan-Yu rose, as if from the dead, from the tower. He stood atop it, and looked down at the group. With a short laugh, the man hopped off of the tower and into the palace.

"Guard the palace! Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the Emperor!" Shang roared.

With a yell, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po rushed forward, weapons raised. Shang turned to look at his other soldiers, who were slowly shuffling forward.

"That's an ORDER!" Shang roared at the slow-moving soldiers.

The soldiers came to a halt, and were promptly surrounded by darkness. They vanished, and Heartless appeared where they had been standing.

Shang stood staring at them, speechless. The others quickly drew their weapons, and Mulan stood in front of Shang alongside Sora.

"Captain! We'll secure the courtyard, and you can save the Emperor!" Sora said quickly, holding his Keyblade in front of him.

Shang stood rooted to the spot, clearly at a loss. He knew that he should listen to him, but taking an order from such a young person seemed almost foolish.

"That's an order!" Corita said to him in the same tone that he'd said it to his soldiers. Shang looked at her, nodded, and dashed off towards the palace. The Heartless quickly began to multiply, and the group began to take them down.

* * *

"Whew! That was fun." Corita sighed after the final Heartless had been defeated. "Let's get to the Emperor and save him so I can burn these stupid clothes..." 

"No time to waste!" Sora said to her, grabbing her arm and dragging her across the courtyard at a sprint.

"Right! The Emperor's in danger!" Mulan said, running alongside them.

"Wait for us!" Goofy called from behind.

Although they made it across the courtyard quickly, it clearly wasn't quick enough. They reached the stairs that led to the entrance to the palace, but Shan-Yu had clearly beaten them there. He stood with his sword to the Emperor, an evil grin on his face.

"Now you'll bow to me." He said in a sinister tone. The Emperor appeared as calm as ever.

Shang, who had been nowhere to be found, lept from the palace ledge above and knocked Shan-Yu away. As quick as lightning, the Captain lept up, and gently led the Emperor to the palace gate. Ling and Chien-Po, who were waiting at the gate, quickly closed it behind Shang and the Emperor.

Meanwhile, Shan-Yu was recovering from being tackled by Shang. He got up only to see that Mulan, Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy no longer stood in front of him. Turning for the gate, he saw that they stood in front of it alongside Yao, Ling and Chien-Po.

"It ends now!" Mulan said angrily.

"Right now!" Donald quacked.

Shan-Yu was clearly outnumbered and outmatched. His hawk flew down from the skies above and landed on his shoulder. With an evil laugh, a dark energy seemed to surround him. The energy faded away, and several Heartless appeared nearby.

"Let's do this!" Sora roared.

"For China!" Yao cried.

"For the Emperor!" Mulan shouted.

"So I can get out of these boy's clothes!" Corita roared above them all. They charged forward and clashed with the mighty Hun.

* * *

As Donald and Goofy fended off the Heartless, Sora and Mulan fought off Shan-Yu. Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po guarded the gate alongside Corita, who was using most of her energy to heal everyone. 

"STUPID HAWK!" Donald roared as Shan-Yu's hawk swooped down and started attacking him.

"Donald! Just shoot him down with a thunder spell!" Corita roared.

Donald took her advice and sent a powerful thunder spell off in the hawk's direction. Although it struck the hawk, the bird merely looked dazed for a few moments, then proceeded to attack Donald again.

"AAH!" Donald cried, running away from the hawk.

Corita sighed. "Yao? Would you please go save Donald?"

"Why don't you do it?" Yao growled as he attacked several Heartless shadows.

"Because I'm busy healing Sora and Mulan as they fight off Shan-Yu ALONE!" She roared.

"Alright, alright...Men! Move out!" Yao said to his friends. He, Ling and Chien-Po dashed off in different directions.

Meanwhile, Sora was face-to-face with Shan-Yu, fighting back the Hun's powerful blows. Mulan had taken to defeating the Heartless that were swarming around them.

"Get the gate!" Shan-Yu shouted in a gruff voice. The Heartless quickly turned away from them and proceeded towards the palace gate.

"Ahh! Don't get the gate!" Corita cried, gripping her staff. "Yao! Donald! Chien-Po! ANYONE!"

Just as the Heartless reached the gate, Ling, Donald and Goofy dashed over to help. Fighting together, they were able to defeat the Heartless swarm.

"Whew! Thanks, guys." Corita said in a relieved tone.

"CORITA!" Sora's voice shouted.

"Oops...I'm supposed to be healing Sora, aren't I?" She said meekly.

"Go! We'll stay here and...STUPID HAWK!" Donald screeched as Shan-Yu's hawk flew above them and began attacking the gate out of their reach. Donald held up his staff, mustered all of his strength, and shot a very powerful fire spell right at the bird. It hit him dead on, and the hawk fell to the ground. Before the hawk could take off again, Donald grabbed him with an evil laugh.

Sora was finally able to knock Shan-Yu's sword away, giving him the chance to strike the Hun with many powerful blows. Before Shn-Yu could recover, Mulan rushed over to help. After a long and grueling fight, the Hun finally fell to the ground, exhausted and defeated. All remaining Heartless were quickly defeated by Donald and Goofy, and everyone walked over to Sora and Mulan.

"Now THAT'S what I call burning some hunny-bun!" Mushu said cheerfully. The little dragon had been with Mulan the whole time, and he now hopped to the ground and began dancing around them. "Aw, yeah! Mulan's the best! Mulan's the best! No, wait a minute---I'm the best! Mushu's the best! Mushu's the best!"

The others blinked.

"Um...did you even do anything?" Corita asked.

"What? Of course I did!" Mushu said, stopping in his tracks and looking up at her. "There's no way you could've beaten Shan-Yu without my incredible aid!"

"Right..." Sora said slowly.

* * *

The courtyard was flooded with people; where they had all come from, none of them knew. After the fight, Shang had emerged from the palace along with the Emperor. Sora, Mulan, Corita, Donald and Goofy now stood before the Emperor. None of them were sure what would happen next.

"I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan." The wise Emperor said deeply. Mulan bowed to him in respect.

"You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier. You decieved you commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name."

Sora and Corita looked sad. Goofy looked downright depressed, and Donald merely looked impatient.

"You're a young woman. And in the end...you have saved us all."

To everyone's surprise, the emperor bowed to Mulan. Mulan looked at him in shock. Behind them, they could hear everyone in the crowd cheering.

"Your Excellency!" Mulan said, finally finding her voice.

"Take this, so the world will know what it is you have done for China." The Emperor said, standing upright again and taking Shan-Yu's sword from Captain Shang, who was standing nearby along with Yao, Ling and Chien-Po. The Emperor then handed the sword to Mulan.

"Thank you." Mulan said, bowing to him again.

Shang looked upon them with an expression of happiness. He even cracked a slight smile.

"Mulan." He said. Mulan looked at him.

"Sora. Donald. Goofy. And..." Shang said, regarding each of them as he said their name. Now that he looked upon Corita, however, he realized that he didn't actually know her name.

"It's Corita." She said meekly.

"And Corita, too." Shang finished. "Thank you all."

"Now they GOTTA let me go back to bein' a guardian! They GOTTA!" said a voice from below. Peering down, they saw that Mushu was talking to himself.

"But Mushu, I thought you already WERE a family guardian!" Goofy chortled.

"What?" Mushu said quickly, turning to face them. He had a nervous look on his face. "Oh, no, no---don't even worry about that, that's just real technical. Just for us guardians."

"You tricked us!" Sora cried.

"Umm..." Mushu stuttered, then he turned away from them and began to run away as he talked. "You know, I just didn't wanna bog y'all down with all a guardian's deeds. See, they're very complex, a lot of fine print. You wouldn't understand..."

Suddenly, Shan-Yu's sword began to glow. Sora, who'd been chasing Mushu, stopped and turned to face Mulan.

"What's going on?" Mulan asked, watching the sword as it slowly rose out of her hands and into the air.

Sora looked at the sword, then down at his Keyblade, which had appeared in his hand.

"Do you think...?" Goofy whispered to him.

"It's worth a shot!" Sora replied. Sora held the Keyblade out in front of him, and a show similar to that of Hollow Bastion's opened another gate to a new world.

"I guess it's time to move on." Sora said as Shan-Yu's sword drifted back to the ground.

"Will you come back?" Mulan asked.

"Of course!" Corita said cheerfully.

"YAY, UNCLE CORITO!"

Corita turned, and rushing up the steps towards her were roughly 2 dozen children, each brightly saying her nickname and trying to get ahead of the others. They reached her and gleefully tackled her to the ground.

"That's Aunt Corita!" She said, covered by children hugging her.

"We will look forward to your return." Shang said to them, barely concealing a grin. "And apparantly, so will the children."

"Hey! How about a hug for Uncle Donald?" Corita said to the children after pulling herself up. The children turned, like a single unit, to face Donald.

"No! No! No hugs!" Donald cried.

"YAY, UNCLE DONALD!" The children squealed as they tackled the poor magician.

Riku Fangirls: -are still fainted-  
Roxas: Hmm...how long until they wake up?  
Joe: I'd say a few more weeks. By the way, Corita.  
Corita: Oh dear.  
Joe: I must say, you were wonderful in the fight against Shan-Yu.  
Corita: X-x help me.  
Sora53: Can't right now. I'm busy selling this random giant rubber band ball on the internet.  
Joe: NOT MY PRIDE AND JOY!  
Sora53: Cool! Someone just bid 15 cents! That's the highest bid so far!


	18. Grilled Fish ala Cid

Sora53: Alright, here's a nice chappie to redeem myself after the last chapter.  
Fans: Nothing could redeem you of that.  
Corita: Be nice!  
Joe: She sold my rubber band ball online for 23 cents! There's no way I'm going to forgive her for anything! I agree with the Fans!  
Sora53: Joe, the ball was so big that I had to charge 2000 dollars for shipping, but I only needed 20. You can have the rest.  
Joe: Really?  
Sora53: No.  
Joe: CORITA! SHE WAS MEAN TO ME!  
Corita: -eye twitch- 

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! Well, except for Corita. But besides her...NOTHING!

After pulling herself away from her posse and promising them that she'd return, Corita was overjoyed to see the Gummi Ship. She raced inside and impatiently waited for Sora, Donald and Goofy to enter.

"Alright, Sora." Corita said, tapping her foot, "Where's my stuff?"

"It's in the box under that chair." Sora said wearily, pointing to one of the back seats. Corita squealed with joy as she pulled the box out.

"Alright. I'm going to go soak my hair in hot water for about an hour to get some of this hair gel out." Corita told them, taking the box of her stuff into the back with her. "If you need me, I'll be the one in the back room with my head in the sink."

"Okay." Sora said, throwing himself into one of the back seats. "Should we go right to the new world, or should we head back to Hollow Bastion?"

"Eh, let's head back to Hollow Bastion first." Donald suggested.

"Yeah! It'll be nice to relax for a while in our room!" Goofy said brightly.

"You call it relaxing. I call it being pestered by Merlin to study magic." Sora sighed.

"Don't say bad things about Merlin!" Corita shouted from the other room. "He taught us everything we know about magic!"

"What, I haven't contributed any knowledge?" Donald said bitterly.

"Not really, Duck Boy."

"Don't make me come in there and dunk your whole head into that sink...!"

"Go ahead and try!"

"Guys, stop bickering." Sora said, half asleep. He was clearly tired after their adventures in the Land of Dragons.

Goofy, who was piloting, simply ignored them as Donald and Corita agrued and Sora fell asleep. Since the gate between Hollow Bastion and the Land of Dragons had already been cleared, they were able to simply fly along the path until they reached it.

"We're here!" Goofy announced cheerfully.

Donald and Corita stopped fighting instantly, and Sora muttered something about paupu fruit and thalassa shells in his sleep.

* * *

"If anyone needs me now..." Corita said grumpily as they marched into Merlin's house, "I'll be in my room chiseling away at my hair. Hello, Merlin, Cid, Leon."

Merlin, Cid and Leon watched in stunned silence as Corita walked past and entered the doorway that led to her room. After she'd left, they turned to face Sora, Donald and Goofy, who still stood at the entrance to Merlin's house.

"Can I ask why Corita was dressed in your old clothes?" Merlin asked slowly.

"Oh, we had to join the army, but girls weren't allowed to, so we had to disguise her." Sora explained.

"And now she's a litter bitter because Sora used a little too much hair gel on her." Donald said, elbowing Sora in the ribs.

"Hey, I said I was sorry..." Sora sobbed.

"Did you open another gate while you were there?" Leon asked.

"Of course!" Goofy said. "We just wanted to come back for the night to rest and stock up on supplies."

"Well, since you're here..." Merlin said, turning around and taking something from one of his many shelves. Sora cringed.

"You might as well..."

"Well, I should probably go help Corita! I mean, it's my fault her hair is like that in the first place, right? Sorry to interrupt, Merlin, but you know how it is, I have very important Keyblade Masterish duties...so I guess I'll see you all later BYE!"

Sora had finished this sentence and rushed into their room before Merlin could finish saying 'Look over this magic spell.' Goofy and Donald grinned, and quicky rushed into their room as well.

Merlin sighed. "Ah well, I'll show it to Corita as soon as she's mentally stable again..."

"Dang kids." Cid grumbled. "It's up to them to save the worlds, huh?"

"Keep working on the town's defense mechanism." Leon said quietly. "We don't want another malfunction like last time, do we?"

"So the defense mechanism chased Yuffie around the town for an hour. I fixed it, didn't I?" Cid growled.

Leon sighed and Merlin chuckled.

* * *

"Sora, it's not coming out!" Corita cried. She banged her head on the wall, and her hair made a low, almost metallic thunking sound.

"It's okay...I know how to get it out..." Sora sighed. He left Corita's room and went into his own, and came back with a strange bottle of sickly green liquid.

"What...IS that?" Corita said nervously.

"This is the OTHER secret to my hair-based success." Sora explained proudly.

"It looks worse that the other bottle!"

Sora opened the bottle, squeezed some onto Corita's head, and began to spread it out. Almost instantly, Corita felt her hair wilt again.

"Wow, Sora." Corita said happily. "It actually works!"

"Now go rinse your hair, and it should be back to normal." Sora said, putting the cap back on the bottle.

"Wait a second." Corita said, looking her brother straight in the eye. "Couldn't you have told me this earlier? Like before I had to embarass myself in front of Merlin, Leon and Cid? Like ON THE GUMMI SHIP?"

Sora shrugged. "I left the bottle in my room. I didn't think I'd need it...besides, I was sleepy..."

Corita sighed and stomped out of the room. Sora chuckled and exited as well, and went back into his own room.

To his dismay, Donald and Goofy were laughing as Merlin threw several large books on Sora's bed.

"What are you doing!" Sora cried.

Merlin looked up. "Oh, hello, Sora! I thought these books might be of some interest to you..."

"More magic books?" Sora sobbed.

"Oh, you like the magic books I give you?" Merlin said brightly. "No, no...these books are about the legend and power of the Keyblade. Of course, if you want, I'll go get you more magic books..."

Merlin patted him on the shoulder and left the room. Sora groaned and fell on top of the pile of books on his bed.

"You kinda shot yourself in the foot there, Sora." Goofy chuckled.

"Thanks, Goofy." Sora sighed.

"Here you are, Sora!" Merlin said as he entered the room with several more books. "We have 'Unlocking the Power Within' and 'Offensive Spell Theory Volume 1 through 3.' This should be good for now, right?"

"Thank you, Merlin." Sora stuttered as Merlin placed the books into the Keyblade Master's arms.

"Now, where's Corita?" Merlin asked. "She's not in her room...I wanted to give her a few more books as well..."

"She's rinsing off her hair, so I can only assume she's on the Gummi Ship." Sora told Merlin.

"Alright...I'll speak to her later, then. I'll see you boys later!"

Merlin finally left the room, and Sora pushed all the books off of his bed. As he did, one book actually caught his eye...

"What's this?" Sora wondered, picking up the book. "'The Keyblade: More than just a Giant Key'? Who WRITES this stuff?"

"GUYS!" Corita cried, bursting into the room.

"Corita!" Sora yelped, falling off of his bed.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Donald grumbled.

"Quiet, Duck Boy. Look, guys! My hair is finally back to normal!" She said in an excited tone.

So it was true. Corita's hair finally fell in the way that it normally did. Sora pulled himself back up onto his bed and looked at her.

"That's great, Corita!" Goofy chortled.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm getting out of these stupid clothes." Corita said. She turned around and left their room.

"Hey, that outfit is VERY stylish!" Sora called after her.

"Not on me!" Corita's voice shouted from the hallway.

20 minutes later, Corita sat happily on her bed, entirely back to normal, from her thalassa shell necklace to her gloves. She was busily reading another book that Merlin had left her, when a soft knock on the door caused her to look up.

"Come in." She called, and Sora entered the room.

"Hey, Corita." Sora said cheerfully. "We've been invited to dinner by the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee

"Awesome!" Corita said, putting down the book and leaping off of her bed. "Where exactly are we eating?"

"Eh, probably some dining room that Merlin conjured up..."

* * *

Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy blinked as they entered the dining room that Merlin had conjured. It was relatively well-lit, with a large circular table in it. There were several comfy-looking chairs around the table. On the other side of the room, Cid was digging through a rather large refrigerator, complaining loudly.

"Stupid, useless thing...Merlin must've stocked it..."

"Umm...hi, Cid!" Corita called. Cid jumped and turned to face them.

"Well, you guys came at just the right time." Cid said. "I need you to pick something up for me in town.

"What?" Sora cried.

"Don't complain! Getting dinner on the table for the Committee is a group effort! You want to eat, you've gotta do some work!"

"Fine..." Sora sighed.

"What do you need?" Donald asked grumpily.

"I need some fish for my famous Grilled Fish a la Cid."

"Umm...Grilled Fish a la Cid?"

"Just GO! You can get fish in town."

"Alright, alright..."

* * *

"WHAT?" Corita roared loudly. Sora, Donald and Goofy quicky covered their ears.

"Are you serious? 500 munny for one stupid fish! You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Corita, it's fine..." Sora hissed.

"It's not fine! This is a sham! Robbery!"

"I'm sorry!" The shopowner said. "We need to raise funds to rebuild our shop! It keeps getting destroyed by Heartless!"

"Fine." Corita sighed. "Sora, lend me some munny."

Sora quickly shoveled some munny into Corita's hand before she could start ranting again. The storeowner handed her some fish wrapped in paper, and Corita handed the fish to Donald.

"Donald, carry the fish."

"Why can't you do it?" Donald asked bitterly.

"Because it smells icky."

"Oh, that's a good excuse." Donald said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm glad you think so."

They walked past the shops and up the stone steps that would lead them back to Merlin's house. When they reached the top of the stairs, however, they stopped and stared.

"Umm...Donald? Isn't that YOU standing over there?" Goofy asked.

"What are you talking about?" Donald grumbled. "I'm standing right...Uncle Scrooge?"

"Huh?" Sora and Corita said together.

An elderly duck who looked amazingly like Donald stood nearby. Upon hearing his name, he turned to face them. A bright smile filled his face.

"Why, if it isn't Donald! And Goofy!" The duck quacked.

"Hello, Uncle Scrooge!" Donald said brightly.

"Umm...who?" Sora whispered to Goofy.

"He's Donald's uncle." Goofy replied.

"Goofy, I think we got that from how Donald keeps calling him 'Uncle Scrooge'."

"Oh...sorry!" Goofy chortled. "Scrooge is quite the business typhoon! Before the Heartless showed up, he traveled the worlds on a Gummi Ship with the King. He was helpin' to set up a traffic system."

"That's transit system!" Donald hissed.

"Who are your friends?" Scrooge asked.

"Oh, this is Sora, and this is Corita." Donald said, gesturing to each of them.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Scrooge." Corita said politely.

"Don't fall for her act. She's evil." Donald whispered to his uncle.

"You...!"

Uncle Scrooge gave a hearty laugh. "Well, now! You all certainly look healthy."

"So do you, Uncle Scrooge."

Sadness filled Scrooge's face. "Ah, if only I were..."

"What's wrong?" Goofy asked.

"You see, it's this ice cream." he said, gesturing to the ice cream he held in his hand. "I can't seem to recreate my favorite old-time flavor. I'd make millions if I just got it right...but this stuff I keep churning out is terrible!"

"It can't be THAT bad..." Sora said in a kind voice.

"Here then, lad, why don't you try it?" Scrooge asked, holding out the ice cream.

"Erm...no thanks."

"I'm sorry your ice cream isn't doing well, Uncle Scrooge." Donald sighed. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Why, certainly!" Uncle Scrooge said brightly. "I've been able to scrape together some funds through a side business...is there any way I could interest you in this?"

Scrooge turned around and dug around in the small opening in the building behind him. After a few moments of rummaging, Scrooge pulled something out.

"It's a top-of-the-line skateboard!" Scrooge announced. "Only 300 munny! Whaddya say? Help out a family member, Donald?"

"Gee, Uncle Scrooge, I don't know what we'd do with a -"

"I'll take it!" Sora squealed, digging out some munny.

"Yeah! It's even cheaper than that stupid fish!" Corita said brightly.

Donald sighed.

"Aw, cheer up, Donald!" Goofy said as Sora handed the munny to Scrooge. "It's just helping out your uncle, right?"

"Well, yeah, but you know how Sora can get way too excited over some things..."

Sora squeaked with excitement when Scrooge handed him the skateboard. Sora promptly dropped it on the ground, hopped on, and took off.

"Awesome!" Sora cried as he sailed down the slope. Corita, Donald and Goofy ran off to catch up with the Keyblade Master.

Roxas: -is skateboarding- I OWN!  
Everyone: O-o  
Roxas: What? It's true! I own this skateboard! I bought it from Joe for 23 cents! -ish happy-  
Sora53: Joe? You're weird.  
Joe: I am not weird!  
Fans: You're weird.  
Joe: -sob- Corita! They're being mean to me again!  
Corita: Why am I the one you always call for help?  
Joe: Because you're cool.  
Riku Fangirls: NOT AS COOL AS RIKU!  
Riku: O-o Riku Fangirls: RIKU! -tackle-


	19. Skateboards and Castles

Sora53: DUN DUN DUN!  
Fans: You're really weird.  
Corita: Yeah, and what's with the dun dun dun? There aren't any dun dun dun moments in this chapter...  
Sora53: -shifty eyes- or ARE there?  
Joe: Are there? ARE THERE? -reads chappie-  
Riku Fangirls: There's still no Riku...  
Sora53: Deal with it.  
Riku Fangirls: -pelts Sora53 with grape lollipops-  
Sora53: NOOO! 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Corita and this gum that I'm chewing. Mmm...gummy goodness!

By the time Corita, Donald and Goofy had caught up with Sora, he was waiting for them in front of Merlin's house.

"Took you guys long enough." Sora said jokingly, holding their new skateboard.

"I hate to admit it, Sora, but you were pretty good!" Corita said, trying to catch her breath. "Have you ever ridden one of those things before?"

"Hmm...not that I can remember." Sora admitted. "But it's really not that hard. Do you want to try?"

"Sure!" Corita said brightly. Sora handed her the skateboard, and she dropped it to the ground. She hopped on, moved 2 feet, and promptly fell flat on her face.

Donald and Goofy laughed heartily as Corita, face glowing, stood back up.

"It's not as easy as it looks..." She muttered.

"You just need to practice." Sora said, hopping onto the skateboard and practically floating around the area in front of Merlin's house.

"What is going on out here?" said a frustrated voice from inside Merlin's house. The door opened, and Cid poked his head out.

"Get in here!" He grumbled. "Did you get the fish?"

"My, you're extra grumpy today, Cid." Corita chuckled.

Donald walked over to Cid and handed him the fish. Cid grunted in thanks, and retreated back to the house.

"Why do you think Cid's all grumpy-like?" Goofy wondered.

"There's a bug in the town's defense mechanism." Came a voice from behind them. They all turned (in Sora's case, rolled) to face Leon, who was watching them with an amused look in his eye.

"Leon!" Sora said in greeting. He rolled to a smooth halt and hopped off of his skateboard.

"There's a bug?" Donald grumbled. "What's wrong with it?"

"It keeps chasing things that aren't enemies...Yuffie, for instance."

"Can't Cid fix it?" Corita asked nervously.

"Of course. But it'll take a bit of time. He's just mad that we interrupted his work."

"So he could make his Grilled Fish ala Cid?"

"That's it." Leon said, nodding. "I have to go. There are a few Heartless causing trouble in the bailey."

"Do you need us to help?" Donald asked.

"It shouldn't be that much of a problem." Leon replied.

"Aren't you eating dinner with us?" Goofy asked.

"Maybe." Leon said, and he walked off towards the bailey.

"I'll never understand that guy..." Sora sighed.

"He's just very stoic...maybe." Corita said.

* * *

"Here's your Grilled Fish ala Cid." Cid growled, throwing the plates of food down in front of those sitting at the table. "Enjoy it."

"Thanks, Cid! It looks great." Sora said, digging in.

"It had better look great. That fish cost a fortune." Corita grumbled. "Thank you, Cid."

Sitting at the table were Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy, as well as Cid, Merlin, and Aerith. They all sat in silence for a few minutes, eating. Then, Sora broke the silence.

"So, where's Leon and Yuffie?" Sora asked.

"They're at the bailey, taking care of the Heartless." Cid said. "Well, Leon's probably taking care of them, and Yuffie's being chased by the town's defense mechanism..."

"Boy, the defense mechanism sure hates her for some reason..."

"They'll be back later. Being a member of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee ain't no picnic." Cid growled, taking a large helping of mashed potatoes.

* * *

After dinner, the rest of the evening passed in silence, except for Cid shouting and complaining while working on the town's defense mechanism. When he finally announced that it had been fixed, loud cheers erupted from everywhere in the house.

A short while later, Leon and Yuffie showed up at the house, both looking rather tired.

"What happened to you guys?" Sora asked, poking his head out from their hallway into the main house.

"I've been chasing the defence mechanism that's been chasing Yuffie." Leon grumbled.

"Don't worry, It's been fixed." Cid growled. "There's grilled fish in the kitchen for you guys."

After that, everything was pretty quiet. Sora, Donald and Goofy retreated to their room, and Corita remained in her own. Jiminy, who was extremely happy to have his favorite perch back, sat atop Corita's head, writing in his journal as Corita read some of the books Merlin had given her.

* * *

After a slow start, which consisted in Sora and Donald oversleeping once again, the team was back on the Gummi Ship. It was Corita's turn to pilot the ship, so she and Sora sat in the front while Donald and Goofy sat in the back.

"Okay." Corita said, peering at the navigation screen. "That little light show of Sora's opened a new path...ready, everyone?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Donald grumbled from the back.

"Full speed ahead!" Goofy cheered.

Corita pressed several fancy glowing buttons, and the Gummi Ship pulled forward. She steered it away from Hollow Bastion; rather than taking the path that led to the Land of Dragons, it seemed that some of the misty fog around them had cleared and another path through it was avalible. According to the ship's radar, this new path would lead to the new gate and the new world.

"Okay..." Corita said. "Everyone hold one! Another gate's coming up!"

She hit the acceleration, and just like last time, they shot forward into the large shimmering keyhole. The colors spun around them as they sped through at top speed. As soon as it had begun, it had stopped, and they were inside another gate.

"Well, that wasn't so...HEARTLESS SHIPS!" Corita roared, jamming several weapons buttons at once. "Sora, help me!"

Sora was dully flipping through 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads' for the 507th time. "Can't you handle it?"

"Aw, c'mon! You're the Keyblade Master!"

"So? You're my twin sister...you should be able to handle it, shouldn't you?"

"Nobody ships on your left!" Donald squawked.

"Thank you, Donald." Corita said as she jammed some more buttons. "At least SOMEONE is being helpful."

"WATCH OUT FOR THAT ROCK!" Sora roared, leaping in front of her and grabbing the steering wheel. He quickly manuvered them away from the giant rock that had appeared out of nowhere.

"I could've avoided it." Corita pouted.

"Sure you could've." Sora said with a smile.

"You are such a...brother!"

* * *

After flying through the gate, Corita had landed the ship in a mysterious new world. They were in the middle of a dark, eerie forest.

"Where are we? It's kinda spooky..." Goofy said with a shudder.

"It looks like there's a castle in the distance." Sora said, pointing at a building that towered above the trees. "Let's check it out."

"And what if there's an evil zombie there waiting to eat us?" Corita asked.

Donald snickered.

They marched through the forest and reached the gates of the castle. As they usually did, they entered the mysterious area without considering who or what waited for them inside.

"Wow, this place is huge!" Donald squawked once they finally entered the castle.

"It's also pretty depressing..." Corita commented.

"Yeah, it's really dim and gloomy..." Sora said.

"Whodya think lives here?" Goofy asked.

Out of nowhere, a loud roar filled the air. It was so sudden that it scared all four of them; Donald lept back into Corita, knocking her onto the ground.

"What was that?" Donald cried as Corita bitterly pulled herself up.

"Didn't you recognize it?" Sora said. "It sounds like the Beast!"

Another roar filled the air, and this time they all recognized it. There was no mistaking that roar; it had to be the Beast.

"So this is HIS castle?" Goofy wondered, looking once again at the stone stairs and walls.

"Let's say hi!" Corita said cheerfully.

"Or we could cream that Heartless." Sora said, pointing to a Shadow Heartless that had just appeared on the ground.

"That works, too..."

The Heartless looked at them, antennae twitching; it flattened itself and began to crawl along the ground.

"Hey, get back here!" Donald roared. He began to ran after the dark figure on the ground, and his friends followed him. The Heartless snuck under a door that was slightly ajar. Without a second thought, the team ran inside.

"Aw, where did it go?" Donald sighed, looking around the room. It appeared to be a small parlor; a fire crackled in the hearth, and on a table in the corner of the room, a beautiful rose stood in a glass case. Donald waddled over to this table and looked around on the floor. Suddenly, the Heartless popped up right in front of him.

"Found it!" Donald announced, preparing to shoot a spell at the Shadow.

"Ah! I think they found us!" Sora cried as several more Heartless appeared around them.

"Looks like it's gonna get interesting." Corita said quietly.

"Let's go!" Goofy shouted, plowing into several Heartless with his shield. Sora went after them with his Keyblade, and Donald and Corita began using every magical spell they knew.

* * *

"Aw, c'mon! Enough already!" Sora moaned as another wave of Heartless appeared, replacing the set that the team had just destroyed. They had been fighting for at least 10 minutes.

As if on cue, the door to the parlor slammed open. The team stopped fighting and stared as the Beast entered the room. He had an angry scowl on his face.

"Just in time!" Sora said in greeting. The Beast sliced away several Heartless, glared at Sora, and knocked him away as well. The Beast then knocked Corita, Donald, and Goofy away as well.

"What the...?" Corita gasped as the Beast destroyed the rest of the Heartless in the room. He then walked over to the table and gently lifted the glass case that contained the shimmering rose. Without a single word, the Beast marched out of the room.

"Why'd he have to do that?" Donald growled, rubbing his head.

"First Yao, now the Beast...why does everyone want to hit me lately?" Sora complained.

"Why would the Beast want to hit you in the first place?" Corita wondered.

"Gee, do ya think he maybe forgot who we are?" Goofy suggested.

"Maybe...with this many Heartless around, something has to be up." Sora said.

"He still didn't have to hit me..." Donald moaned.

Sora53: Ah, nothing better than fighting off a few Heartless, eating some fish, and dancing like a fool!  
Fans: What?  
Joe: -is dancing like a fool-  
Everyone: Go Joe...Go Joe...  
Joe: I ROCK!  
Roxas: -eats ice cream-  
Sora53: True, this chapter was a little shorter than I usually do, but what are ya gonna do, cry about it?  
Riku Fangirls: -are crying-  
Sora53: Well, I don't really care if you guys are crying.  
Riku Fangirls: GET HER!


	20. Past the Talking Wardrobe

Sora53: Heed my message, fanfiction fans! Sora53 is not gone! I was merely on a temporary...  
Fans: ...vacation to la-la-land?  
Sora53: ...shut up.  
Joe: It's about time you updated, Sora53. I was getting sad...you know, with the lack of Corita...  
Corita: -eye twitch-  
Riku Fangirls: WHERE'S RIKU?  
Sora53; -sigh- Over there. -points-  
Riku Fangirls: -stampede- 

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the KH games, but I do own Corita. And this pitifully short and late chapter...-sob-

A still grumpy Donald led the group out of the parlor. Once out, they wondered what to do next.

"Which way do you think the Beast went?" Sora asked.

"Hmm..." Corita muttered, looking around. There were two sets of stairs above them, and there were also several other doors in which he could've gone. "I guess we'll...Donald, what the heck are you doing?"

Donald had been staring at the top of one of the staircases while the others looked around. Upon hearing his name, he snapped out of this trance.

"Huh? Oh, it's just...I thought I saw a woman at the top of those stairs." He said.

"Well... If the Beast is here in the castle, that lady musta been Belle, right?" Goofy suggested.

"Yeah...let's go talk to her." Sora said. "She may be able to tell us what's wrong with the Beast as well."

"Full speed ahead!" Goofy said cheerfully. They walked to the stairs and headed up the set that led towards the East Wing. At the top of the stairs was a door, and inside of the door was a long hallway.

"Where'd she go?" Corita wondered.

"Look!" Sora said, pointing to the end of the hallway. "There's a door there...she must be in there."

"Brilliant observation." Donald said, rolling his eyes.

"Be quiet!" Sora hissed softly. "We don't want to scare her..."

Corita blinked. "Why?"

"There are Heartless in the castle, right? We don't want to freak her out..."

"I suppose that makes sense..."

As they talked, Donald had been ignoring them and walking to the door. Sora, Corita and Goofy followed quickly yet silently.

"Oh, what am I going to do?" moaned a female's voice from behind the door once the four of them had reached it.

Sora pointed to the door. Donald nodded, and without a second glance, ran for the door.

"Donald!" Sora, Corita and Goofy yelled as the magician burst through the door.

"Hey! Who opened the door?" Donald cried. Apparantly, Belle, who was standing at the door, had opened it at the exact moment Donald had tried to break in.

"Donald, what is wrong with you?" Corita cried. "I mean, I know a lot of things are, but..."

Donald grumbled and complained as he pulled himself off the ground.

"Oh, I'm so happy you're here!" Belle cried, rushing forward and pulling Donald into a bone-breaking hug.

"Wak!" Donald said as Belle continued to hug him.

"Oh, Donald!" Belle said happily. She then looked up to acknowledge the others. "Sora! Goofy! And Corita, too!"

The three in the doorway waved cheerfully as Donald squealed, "Put me down! Put me down!"

"Oh...sorry." Belle said as she released the dazed duck. Donald tottered back over to Sora, Corita and Goofy, who were entering the room.

"It's so good to see you all." Belle said, still smiling.

"Where's the Beast?" Donald asked, rubbing his head.

"Oh, he must be in the west wing. We don't talk like we used to." Belle said as her face fell.

"Did something happen?" Sora asked.

"Yes. Isn't that why you're here?" Belle asked.

Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy looked at each other nervously.

"Not exactly...but we can still help, since we're here and all." Goofy said brightly.

"The Beast won't talk to you?" Corita asked.

"He's been acting strange lately. The only ones who might know why are locked up in the dungeon. I want to help them, but..."

"Wait a second. Who locked who up?" Donald asked.

"The Beast locked up his servants."

"Why would he do that?" Corita asked.

"That's what I don't know..." Belle said sadly.

"Hmm. Where's this dungeon?" Sora asked.

"You can get to the undercroft from the west hall. The dungeon is down there."

"Alright. We'll see what we can do." Sora said.

"Thank you...and please be careful."

"Careful? We're always careful!" Donald said boldly. Belle smiled, and the group headed towards the west wing.

Once they were safely away from Belle, Corita rolled her eyes. "Really? You're always careful? That why did you try to break into Belle's room headfirst?"

"That...was an exception." Donald grumbled, looking away from her.

"Really?" Corita said sweetly.

"Yes, really!"

"Stop bickering, you two." Sora said in a monotone voice as he led them down the hallway.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After taking the other set of stairs to the west wing, they found themselves in a long, brightly-lit hallway. After walking past several rows of armor and yet another flight of stairs, they discovered a door at the end of the hallway.

"You think this door is the way into the undercroft?" Corita asked.

"I guess it must be." Sora said. "Only one problem...this conveniently placed wardrobe."

So it was true. A large wardrobe was positioned right in front of the door.

"Come on, Sora! You're the Keyblade Master!" Corita said brightly. "You've battled countless Heartless, saved worlds, vanquished villains...and you think a stupid wardrobe is a problem?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!"

All four of them lept backwards in shock as the wardrobe screamed at them. A feminine face had appeared at the top, and it appeared to be very angry.

"Umm...did I say stupid wardrobe?" Corita said quickly. "I meant smart, kind, gentle, and VERY forgiving wardrobe!"

"You woke me up!" the wardrobe growled angrily.

"I...I'm sorry!" Sora said quickly. "We just needed to get to the dungeon..."

The wardrobe's face went from angry to joyful in record speed. "Ah, are you here to help my friends?"

"Yeah!" Donald said.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" She chuckled. The wardrobe quickly hopped out of the way of the door.

"It's just...it's not every day you see a talking wardrobe." Corita explained. "We were a little...you know, shocked..."

The wardrobe chuckled. "I'm sorry I startled you. Oh, I used to be human, you know, until the enchantress cast her spell. I was turned into a wardrobe when the prince was turned into a beast."

"The prince is the Beast?" Donald cried.

"The Beast is a prince?" Goofy cried.

"That's right. Although his behavior was far from princely at the time."

"What's this about a spell?" Corita asked curiously.

"Well, it was a cold winter's night..." The wardrobe began. The four leaned in closer to listen to the story.

"...and that's enough for now. You can hear the rest when you've rescued the others. It'll give you something to look forward to."

The four sighed, defeated.

"All right. Let's get going." Sora said, opening the door.

"Thank you for your help, Mrs...erm, Wardrobe." Goofy chuckled as he walked through the door after Sora.

"Anytime." The wardrobe said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep now..."

The wardrobe was asleep again before Corita and Donald went through the door.

They were in a small and dingy room, even darker than the other rooms of the castle. Ahead of them was a large door, with what appeared to be two stone decoration-like creatures on it.

"This must be it." Sora said.

The group walked over the the door and examined it. After admiring the lifelike stone creatures, Donald reached out to push it open.

The eyes of the stone creatures began to glow.

"Aaack!" Donald cried, leaping back into Goofy. The creatures suddenly burst into life, their evil eyes gleaming.

"Heartless!" Corita growled, taking out her staff.

The creatures slammed their fists together, and turned to the group. Taking out their weapons, the group prepared to fight.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"SORA! WATCH OUT FOR THAT STATUE!" Corita roared from across the room.

"What? Ack!" Sora cried, turning around and quickly defeating a statue that had been about to attack him. "Why are there statues attacking us?"

As they fought the Heartless on the door, several other enemies were attacking them. Among them were Heartless that looked very similar to bats, as well as gargoyle-like statues. When defeated, the statues didn't release a captive heart like normal Heartless; a dark sphere left them, leading the group to believe that they were merely possessed by darkness rather than being actual Heartless.

"Thanks, Corita!" Sora said thankfully, turning back to face the door.

"It's the least I could do." She said as she shot a fire spell at one of the batlike Heartless.

"CORITA! WATCH OUT FOR THAT HEARTLESS!" Donald roared. Corita turned and saw that another one of the batlike Heartless was preparing to attack.

"Ack! Thanks, Donald!" Corita said as she fended off the Heartless.

"What? Can I hear that again?"

"I said thanks, Donald..."

"What? Can I -"

"DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!"

"Aww, phooey..."

"Can we get a little help over here?" Sora called. He and Goofy were fighting off the door as Donald and Corita argued.

"Sorry, Sora..." Donald and Corita said at the same time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The enemies on the door were quickly defeated, and a dark orb similar to the ones that came from the statues flew out of the door.

"So...that door was possessed too..." Sora muttered as the Keyblade in his hand vanished.

"Either way, it was pitifully weak." Donald complained.

"Stop complaining." Corita grumbled.

"I wasn't complaining!" Donald said quickly. "I was just pointing out the fact that it was pitifully weak..."

"Uh huh. You were complaining."

"Hey, Corita. Whatever happened to being more mature?" Sora said, looking at his sister.

Corita blinked. "Oops. Oh, yeah..."

Roxas: SORA53! THAT CHAPTER WAS SHORTER THAN MY ATTENTION SPAN! ...Hey, look! Something shiny!  
Sora53/Corita: O-o?  
Riku Fangirls: SORA53! THERE WAS NO RIKU OVER THERE! ...Hey, look! Something shiny!  
Roxas: -hiss- get your own!  
Joe: YOU get your own! I saw it first!  
Roxas: NUUUU!  
Riku Fangirls: SHINY!  
-'G'-rated fight-  
Corita: What the heck?  
Sora53: See, the fight has to be rated 'G' since that's what this fic is rated.  
Corita: Ahhh.  
Joe: -pokes Roxas-  
Riku Fangirls: -hits Joe (In a G rated manner-  
Sora53: STOP WITH THE G-RATED PATHETICNESS! Yes, I just invented that word. Deal with it.


	21. Xaldin

Sora53: Rejoice! This chapter is actually normally-lengthified!  
Fans:...Did you just invent that word too?  
Sora53: -shifty eyes- Maybe.  
Corita: This is going to be a long fic, isn't it?  
Sora53: -grin- of course! Just think about how long KH2 is compared to where we are in the story!  
Everyone: -faints-  
Joe: WHEE! MORE CORITA! 

Disclaimer: I don't own nuttin' 'cept Corita. FEAR HER!

While Corita was wondering what happened to her self-proclaimed 'maturity', Sora and Goofy pryed the door that the statues had been on open. Once open, they found themselves in a very small, musty, dingy room. Inside were a few scattered objects, such as a clock, a teapot and cup, a candlestick, and a few chairs. Corita groaned and glared at the objects.

"There's nobody here to rescue! There's nothing here but a bunch of junk!"

"And what do you mean by that?" piped a miffed-sounding voice. Corita squeaked and lept back into Sora.

"I...I didn't mean it! Who's there?"

"SHH! Quiet!" said a gruff male voice voice. "It might be THEM..."

"Oh, they look nice enough to me." said a kindly female voice.

"We are nice. We're here to rescue you!" Goofy said to the room.

"Yeah. Belle sent us to find you." Sora said.

The candlestick, teapot and cup, and clock suddenly began to move towards them. Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy squatted down to the objects' level, and looked at them in awe. Now that they were close enough, they saw that the objects had clear faces much like the wardrobe.

"I'm Sora." Sora said to the objects. "This is Corita, Goofy, and Donald."

The candlestick bowed gracefully to them. "I am Lumiere. This is Cogsworth," he said, gesturing to th clock, "And this is Mrs. Potts and her son Chip."

"DONALD!" Sora and Corita cried, for Donald had reached forward and grabbed Cogsworth. He gingerly picked him up and began poking at him.

"...D-don't touch! I-I am self-winding, sir!" Cogsworth cried as Donald shook him. Sora sighed and turned back to Lumiere.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" Lumiere said gratefully.

"Did you have a spell put on you, too?" Corita asked curiously over Cogsworth cries.

"Yes, that's right! You've heard! It was the enchantress." Lumiere explained.

"It seems so long ago..." Mrs. Potts said sadly. "You see, it was a cold winter's night... An old beggar woman came to the castle, and asked for shelter."

"But the master of this castle, that is of course, the Prince...stop that! Put me down this instant!" Cogsworth roared at Donald. Donald sadly put Cogsworth back onto the ground.

"Thank you." Cogsworth said bitterly, dusting himself off. "Where was I...oh, yes. The master turned her away. All because of her rather meager appearance."

"That's terrible!" Goofy said.

"Oui." Lumiere said gracefully. "He was a spoiled prince, so selfish and...how shall I say...cruel."

"The old woman warned our master not to be decieved by appearances... Still, he would not take her in." Mrs. Potts explained sadly.

"Then the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. She turned the Prince into a beast, a shape she thought fitting for his cold heart."

"And to further punish him, everyone in the castle was enchanted, too." Cogsworth finished.

The group blinked. "That's quite a story." Sora said.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Goofy asked kindly.

"We could go talk to the enchantress." Corita suggested.

"Oh no, dear." Mrs. Potts said to her. "We already know what needs to be done, but with the master out of sorts..."

"He sure is acting weird." Sora said.

"It's almost as if he's forgotten how to trust others." Mrs. Potts said.

"Either way, we should go and see him." Donald said. He stood up, and Sora, Corita and Goofy followed suit.

"If you're going to see the master, follow me. I know a shortcut." Lumiere said. He hopped over to the dungeon door, and the group followed him. Once in the undercroft, he led them up a set of stairs that led to a door above. The door led to a large room, dim and dingy just like the ones before.

"Where are we?" Corita asked.

"This is the shortcut. This path will lead us back to the west wing." Lumiere said.

"That's great!" Sora said brightly.

"I'm afraid we won't be marching out that easily. You see, the door leading to the other side is concealed by a sort of contraption."

"That's not great." Sora sighed. "What kind of contraption?"

Cogsworth, who was behind them, lept up and grabbed a crank that was on the wall. Instantly, several lanterns came down from the ceiling.

"If we could but light all the lanterns in this passage the secret door would open...But, as you can see, the lanterns are already burning---with an enchanted flame. You must put out this enchanted flame before I am able to light the lanterns properly." Lumiere said to them.

"Can't ya just throw some water on 'em?" Goofy suggested.

"I'm afraid that's not enough." Mrs. Potts said sadly. "But if you use the power of light..."

"Hmm... How about I try using the Keyblade?" Sora suggested. He conjured the Keyblade and pointed it at the lantern. Almost instantly, the enchanted flame died, and Lumiere was able to light it with a normal flame.

"Well, that was easy." Sora said confidently. "Let's go light the rest of the lanterns!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are we all set?" Sora asked as Lumiere lit the last lantern.

"Oui. The secret door should open now." Lumiere said.

"Where is this secret door, anyway?" Corita asked.

"You must push that block over there, and it will open." Lumiere told her.

"Ahh...this door is a pain to open." Corita sighed. She pushed the block in the wall, and the stones moved away to reveal the oh-so-secret door. "Wouldn't it of just been easier to go back the way we came?"

"Stop complaining." Donald growled.

"I wasn't complaining!"

"Now, I must check on the castle. I fear my absence has been too long." Lumiere said to them once they'd all gone through the door.

"I'd best be off, too, dears." Mrs. Potts said.

"Watch out for the Heartless!" Sora warned.

Lumiere, Mrs. Potts and Chip tottered down the hall as Cogsworth looked up at Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy.

"The master's room is at the very end of the west wing. I shall go on ahead and wait for you." He said to them.

"Alright, we'll see you there." Sora said. Cogsworth nodded and walked away from them as well.

"...Does anyone else think this is just a little bit weird?" Corita asked.

The others looked at her. "What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Well, we're talking to clocks and teapots, Sora. That doesn't happen everyday."

"I guess so...but when you consider what else we've seen on our journey, this isn't all THAT weird..."

They began walking, and as they walked, they continued to talk.

"I suppose you're right." Corita agreed. "We've done everything from swim underwater to fly..."

"And who could forget when you forgot to take off your werewolf ears after Halloween Town?" Donald snickered.

Corita's face turned beet red. "I'm trying to forget about that."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group quicky made their way through the west wing, and arrived at the end of another long dark hallway. There, Cogsworth was waiting for them.

"This is the master's room." Cogsworth said quietly. "Let's go in quietly so we won't disturb him."

"Hear that, Donald? No breaking in like last time." Corita said with a grin. Donald sighed.

Sora turned the doorknob and carefully peered inside. He let out a gasp.

"The Beast is in there...and he's talking to a guy in a black robe!"

"Gee...who do we know that wears black robes?" Goofy wondered.

Donald sighed again. "The Organization!"

Corita grimaced. "It's one of those Nobodies! Let's get him!"

They went into the room, weapons in hand. The man and the Beast were still talking.

"...It's time you dealt with Belle." The man said to him. "She's scheming to take everything you have. This castle, your precious rose. And then---your life. Trust no one. Feed your anger! Only anger will keep you strong."

The Beast, who was facing away from the door, didn't notice those who'd just entered. "I've had enough of strength." He said sadly. "There's only one thing I want---"

"What?" The man interrupted. "To love, and be loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?"

The Beast roared angrily at the man. The man lifted his hand and gestured to the group near the door. The Beast turned to face them and glared at them angrily.

"See? She has accomplices." The man said. Before any of them could respond, the man vanished into a portal of darkness.

Sora lowered the Keyblade and walked closer to the Beast. "Hey, Prince!" He called out in greeting.

The Beast let out an angry roar, stopping the group in their tracks. Cogsworth, who was perched on Sora's shoulder, let out a cry.

"Please, Master! Control yourself!"

The Beast ignored him, and dashed forward. They raised their weapons again and prepared to fight.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was really nothing the group could do but subdue the Beast by force. Sora and Goofy fought on the front lines, while Donald and Corita cast magic. Cogsworth stayed close by the whole time, pleading with the Beast to compose himself.

"Please, Master! Stop this!" Cogsworth shouted. The Beast ignored him and continued to attack Sora.

"It's no good! He's not listening!" Donald squawked to Cogsworth.

"Ya think?" Corita said, looking at him.

"I have to keep trying!" Cogsworth said to them. "Please, Master! Master, STOP!"

As if on cue, Sora struck the Beast with the Keyblade at this exact moment, and the Beast fell to the ground. Cogsworth hurried over to him.

"Oh, Master!"

The Beast lifted his head. He looked around groggily, then saw Cogsworth.

"Cogsworth...what happened?"

"Well, Master...ah, you see...that is... How shall I say...ah, actually...mmm..." Cogsworth stuttered, at a loss for words.

"You threw everyone in the dungeon and began attacking us." Corita said.

"I did what?" The Beast said in a shocked voice, picking himself off of the ground.

"Umm...you did!" Cogsworth said, confirming Corita's accusation.

The Beast hung his head, staring at the ground. No one said anything for a few moments.

"Who was that guy you were talking to? The one in black?" Sora asked.

The Beast lifted his head, growling. "Xaldin... that's his name." The Beast said. "He came from the darkness... He...used my anger to control me. He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain---and turned it all into rage. There was nothing I could do... I could no longer see the truth..."

"Well, I'll be. That must be why you threw all of your friends down there into the dungeon. You wanted to make sure that you didn't hurt 'em, right?" Goofy said cheerfully.

"Was that it? Was it to protect them?" The Beast said to himself.

"Sure. We know you're good inside." Goofy said.

"He's right, Master." Cogsworth said to him. "We've all seen how kind you can be. After all... Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to---"

"Belle!" The Beast cried, interrupting Cogsworth. He sighed. "I've mistreated her... I've mistreated her and been so selfish..."

"She didn't say anything about that." Sora said in a reassuring tone.

"She'd never tell anyone of my cruelty... She's too good..."

"Well...why don't you just go talk to her?" Corita suggested.

"Yeah! C'mon, we'll go with you." Sora said brightly.

"But..."

"No excuses!" Sora said.

The Beast cracked a small smile. "...Thank you."

Sora53: Aww, ain't that sweet?  
Fans: No.  
Sora53: Man, you guys are just plain bitter. Why are you around anyway?  
Fans: Because we like to torment you.  
Corita: -hands out free cookies-  
Joe: COOKIES!  
Sora53: Why are you handing out cookies?  
Corita: BECAUSE I WANT TO! -eye twitch-  
Sora53: It's going to be a looong fic with THIS random posse.  
Riku Fangirls: RIKU!


	22. Two Peas in a Pod

-Sora53: -le sob- I'm sorry! It's been almost a month since I last updated...talk about writer's block O-o  
Fans: ...You were just being lazy.  
Sora53: -sob- That's not true...  
Fans: Yes it is...  
Sora53: No, It's not!  
Fans: Yes, it is!  
Sora53: -starts crying-  
Corita: Good job. You made Sora53 cry!  
Fans: Ahh...our work here is done.  
Joe: -is eating a watermelon lollipop- Corita.  
Corita: -sigh- Yes, Joe?  
Joe: You're so kind...and caring...  
Corita: X-x 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but mah OC Corita. FEAR HER!

"OOOOHHHHHHHH...we're off to Belle's room! Belle's room! Belle's room! WE'RRRREEEEEEEEE...off to Belle's -"

"Sora! If you sing that song one more time, I'm going to kill you." Corita growled through gritted teeth.

Sora stopped singing and pouted at his sister. "What's wrong with singing?"

"Nothing...you just tend to get...overexcited when you come up with a new song..."

"That's not true!" Sora cried. "Name one other time!"

"Well, let's see." Corita said, counting off on her fingers. "There was the Gummi Ship Song..."

"Ohh, that's a good one." Sora said with a bright smile.

"The song about your cape in Halloween Town..."

Sora began to frown. "Hey, you can't talk. What about the song you and Goofy always sing in the morning?"

Corita smiled. "Hey, now THAT'S a good song..."

Donald sighed. "You guys really are brother and sister."

"Yup!" Goofy chuckled. "They're two regular peas in a pod!"

Sora and Corita stopped walking and looked at each other. Shrugging, they continued along behind Donald and Goofy, who were walking behind the Beast. He was leading them back to Belle's room, where they would be able to talk to her.

"What do you think, Beast?" Sora asked brightly.

The Beast growled.

"...I guess I'll take that as, 'I love the song, Sora!'"

"Sora, you're WAY too optimistic..." Corita sighed.

"We're here." The Beast grunted.

Sora and Corita looked up. They had been talking and arguing with each other the whole way from the Beast's room to Belle's room.

"Well, shall we go in?" Donald asked.

"This time, don't try to knock the door down." Corita said to him as she stepped forward and pulled the door open.

Donald grumbled as he walked into the room.

Unfortunately, Belle wasn't in the room. The only other occupant of the room was the Wardrobe who had been blocking the group's path earlier. She looked up from what she was doing, and her face broke into a bright smile.

"Master!" She said cheerfully, hurrying over to the group.

"Don't worry. Everyone's safe now." Sora told her.

"Oh, what a relief." The wardrobe sighed.

"Where's Belle?" The Beast asked.

"Now, now." The wardrobe said in an almost motherly voice. "Her spirit is what makes Belle so special."

"Don't worry, Beast." Corita said cheerfully. "We'll just go and find her."

The Beast growled angrily. Corita nervously crept backwards and hid behind Goofy with Donald.

* * *

"Now what are you going to sing, Sora?" Corita asked with a smirk. "We already went to Belle's room..."

"Weeeeeeeee'reeeeee...OFF to find Belle...find Belle...find Belle! Weeee'rrrrreeee...OFF to -"

"Sing again and I really will kill you." Corita snarled.

They were descending the staircase into the Entrance Hall. Beast suddenly stopped walking, causing the other four in the group to run into him.

"Ow!" Donald squawked.

"What's wrong, Beast?" Goofy asked.

"Did you hear that?" The Beast said softly.

A loud scream filled the air.

"I heard that!" Sora cried.

"I'm warning you! You'll be sorry!" Belle's voice cried.

"Belle! Where are you!" The Beast roared, running down the rest of the stairs and looking around wildly.

"Beast! Help! I'm in the ballroom!" Belle shouted. Beast turned and ran for the ballroom doors. Sora and Corita, who just happened to be standing in front of the doors, had to leap out of the way to avoid the Beast's powerful arms as they burst the doors open.

"Come on!" Goofy said, helping them up as Donald ran in after the Beast. Eventually, they had all entered the ballroom, and they saw Belle running across the floor to the balcony.

"Belle!" The Beast roared.

"I'm all right!" She replied as she fled to the balcony. "Watch out!"

"Watch out for what?" Corita wondered, looking at Sora. He shrugged.

"Watch out for that!" The Beast snarled, pointing above. From the ceiling came a large spiked ball in chains. It was, without a doubt, a Heartless.

"Oh...that would be something to watch out for." Corita said.

The Heartless, spotting the others in the room, floated back up to the ceiling, towards the giant chandelier.

"Come down here and fight, you coward!" Sora roared.

The Heartless dropped to the ground, causing the room to be plunged into darkness.

"AHH! Sora, where are you!" Corita's voice shouted.

"I'm right here!" Sora's voice replied.

"Here?"

"WAK! That was my foot!" Donald cried.

"Well, maybe if you had some SHOES..."

"Look!" Beast's voice shouted. The Heartless had emerged from the floor, and the room began to refill with light. The group ran forward, ready to attack. The Heartless, with an evil snicker, flew back up and covered the ceiling with darkness.

"What the heck is wrong with this thing!" Corita cried. She angrily lifted her staff and shot a fire spell at it. The Heartless fumbled for a moment, losing its concentration, and began to float back down.

"Everyone! Shoot magic at it!" Sora cried. The three members of the group who could cast magic did, and it caused the Heartless to fall to the ground.

"ATTACK!" Donald cried at the top of his voice. The crew ran forward and began attacking the Heartless as quickly as they could.

The Heartless began to be shrouded in darkness, and the group backed off.

"Pah! That was easy!" Sora chuckled.

The darkness exploded, revealing a large dangerous-looking Heartless. It had large claws and chains still attached to it, and it eyed the group angrily.

"RUN!" Donald cried. The group began to scatter just as the Heartless lept forward and began slashing at them with its claws. With a roar, it ran after Goofy and Sora.

"Get out of here!" The Beast snarled, and he ran forward, slashing at the Heartless with his own sharp claws. The others, realizing that the Beast needed help right away, ran forward as well.

The group continued to attack and run, as the Heartless was too quick for them to do much of anything else. After a long and grueling match, the Heartless finally fell.

"Please don't turn into something else...please don't turn into something else..." Sora and Corita muttered together, crossing their fingers.

To their great relief, the creature began to fade away into oblivion, and a single glowing heart flew off.

"Haha! We did it!" Corita said happily.

"So you think..."

Corita squeaked and lept back; she narrowly avoided stepping on Sora's foot. Standing in front of the doors to the Entrance Hall was a figure in a black robe.

"Xaldin!" The Beast roared, rushing forward.

"Farewell." Xaldin said simply, vanishing in a dark wave as the Beast, Sora and Corita ran forward.

"Come back here, you coward!" Sora cried.

"Show yourself!" Corita growled.

"What does he want here?" The Beast snarled, turning to Sora and Corita.

"He must be with Organization XIII." Sora said, turning to the Beast.

"Ever heard of the Nobodies?" Corita growled softly, in an almost disgusted tone.

"When a strong-hearted person turns into a Heartless, a Nobody's created, too." Sora explained. "See, the Organization...they have control of all the Nobodies."

"That's right. And they were gonna make you into a Heartless. That way, they could get that Nobody of yours and have control over it." Goofy added as he and Donald walked forward to the others.

Sora and Corita shook their heads in disgust. Goofy and Donald smiled.

"Wow, they even get mad at the same stuff." Donald said with a sly grin.

"We do not!" Sora and Corita said together. They looked at each other and smiled slightly.

"Yup. Like I said, two peas in a pod." Goofy chuckled.

"You're alright!" Belle's relieved voice called. The group turned and saw that she had come back inside after the fight.

"Belle!" The Beast said, rushing forward to meet her. At that moment, Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth and Chip tottered into the room.

"I-I'm sorry---I...wasn't myself." The Beast sighed. "I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you." He hung his head. "Forgive me."

"I know you weren't yourself. You don't have to apologize. But I had hoped...that you might have changed a little bit. I wish you could start trusting me." Belle sighed, turning her head.

"Oh, I am afraid time is running short." Lumiere said sheepishly.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, looking down.

"Remember the rose? Cogsworth asked.

"The one from the Beast's room?" Corita asked.

"That's the one. You see...if the master can learn to love, and earn love in return, before the last petal falls..."

"...the spell will be broken." Lumiere finished.

"Aww! That's so romantic!" Corita sighed happily. "...In a sort of twisted, curse-based way..."

"You think he's gonna make it?" Sora asked.

"We think so." Mrs. Potts said cheerfully, rubbing up against her son.

"Yeah...I think you're right." Goofy chortled.

"I HOPE you're right...what the...?" Sora said suddenly. His Keyblade had appeared in his hand.

"Oooh, gate opening time!" Corita said happily. "When are you going to come up with a song for this, Sora?"

Sora grinned as he held the Keyblade out in front of him. "It's only a matter of time..."

* * *

After the gate was opened, the group said their goodbyes, with the promise that they would be back to visit soon. As they boarded the Gummi Ship, a fight broke out once again.

"I want to be the pilot!" Donald whined.

"No, I get to be the pilot this time! You can be pilot next time!" Sora complained, tugging the steering wheel away from the magician. Meanwhile, Goofy had fallen asleep in the back, and Corita was dully flipping through 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads'.

"Guys, stop fighting." Corita said in a monotone voice as she read.

"Corita, tell Donald that's it's my turn to pilot the ship!" Sora cried.

"Donald, it's Sora's turn to pilot the ship."

"Well, tell Sora that I'll burn him to a crisp if he doesn't back off!" Donald snarled.

"Sora, Donald will burn you to a crisp if you don't back off."

"MINE!"

"NO, MINE!"

"AHH!" Corita cried as she was thrown forward out of her seat. Sora and Donald were also thrown forward, and Goofy fell to the floor, waking up instantly.

"What was THAT?" Corita roared. "What did you guys break!"

"Umm...umm..." Sora said quickly, looking around. "DONALD BROKE IT! HE'S THE PILOT!"

"NO! SORA WAS THE PILOT! IT'S HIS FAULT!"

"Don't worry, guys!" Goofy said cheerfully as he stood up and walked to the cockpit. "The ship's just movin' on it's own is all!"

"...why is that something that we shouldn't worry about?" Corita cried.

Goofy opened up the radar screen. Their Gummi Ship was on their, as well as a small blinking path that was leading to Hollow Bastion.

"Hmm...it looks like we're headed for Hollow Bastion." Goofy said.

Sora shrugged. "Alright, Donald, you can be pilot."

"But if the ship's moving on its own, that means I don't have to do anything!" Donald complained.

"Yep. You wanted to be pilot this time..."

"You...!"

"What?"

"Arrgh...nothing." Donald grumbled, sitting in the pilot chair unhappily.

* * *

With their ship safely docked, the group got off and headed back to Merlin's house.

"I wonder what's up." Sora said as they walked.

"Maybe Merlin has some more books for you to read, Sora." Corita chuckled.

"Don't even talk like that!" Sora groaned. "If I have to read another one of Merlin's books..."

They turned the corner, and saw that the door to Merlin's house was wide open. A few Soldier Heartless ran out gleefully.

"Uh oh!" They all said at the same time, running forward. Before they could reach the Heartless, they had vanished. They ran into the house and saw that Merlin was on the floor, grumpily adjusting his glasses.

"Merlin!" Corita cried, running forward and helping him off of the ground.

"Oh, thank you, dear..." The wizard said as he brushed himself off. "Took your time, did you?"

"Sorry, Merlin." Corita sighed sadly. "Was it you who summoned us?"

"Yes, yes... But it seems I used too much power in doing so, and those infernal Heartless..." Merlin began to mutter. In order to avoid a long rant by the old wizard, Sora interrupted.

"So, what's up?" He said quickly. Merlin turned to face him.

"Well, I happened to stumble across this in the Zero District." Merlin explained. A book appeared in Merlin's hand, and he handed it to Sora.

"Aaack! A book!" Sora cried.

Merlin frowned. "Look closely at it, Sora."

Sora looked down, and a bright smile filled his face. "Hey, it's Pooh's storybook!"

"That's right. I know you're a good friend of Winnie the Pooh, Sora---that's why I summoned you. And when I did, I was attacked by the Heartless."

It looked like Merlin was in the mood for a good long rant, so the group sort of tuned him out as they looked down at the cover of the book.

"Of course, I fought back with some rather powerful magic, but then I began to fear the book would be damaged, so I... Oh! Now, just a moment. Leon and the others need to hear this too. I-I'd better go find them. Be back in a jiffy."

"Huh?" Sora said, jerking his head up. By the time he did, Merlin had already vanished in a puff of blue smoke.

"I wonder how Pooh's doing?" Sora said, handing the book to Donald.

"Wanna find out?" Donald asked sweetly.

"Yeah!"

Donald opened the book, and held it up.

"Sora..." Goofy began.

"If Merlin comes back, just cover for me, okay?" Sora said. Sora lept forward, and he began to shrink as he entered the storybook.

Corita rolled her eyes. "Sure, Sora. We'll just tell him you went out for doughnuts."

-Sora53: -is still crying-  
Roxas: -gives Sora53 an ice cream bar- Here, have some ice cream! XD  
Sora53: SQUEE! -eats the ice cream-  
Corita: Good job, Roxas!  
Roxas: Ice cream makes everything better!  
Joe: No...Corita does...  
Corita: O-o You are a tad too obsessed...  
Joe: -eye twitch- No...  
Sora53: I hope you liked it! I improvised a bit on the boss battle...it was too complicated to explain X-x And I realize I never actually wrote about Pooh in Twin Hearts, but for the sake of the ficceh pretend I did X-x  
Fans: NO!


	23. Meg

Sora53: LET'S DANCE!  
Everyone: -dances-  
Fans: O-o what is wrong with you?  
Sora53: LOTSA STUFF! -dances-  
Corita: JOIN US, FANS!  
Everyone: Join us...join us...  
Fans: O-o! -runs away-

Disclaimer: I only own Corita. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its various sequels. Fear it.

Sora had been in the book for only a few minutes, but Corita, Goofy and Donald were already bored out of their minds. Corita was staring off into the distance, Donald was trying to figure out what items they needed to stock up on, and Goofy was poking Donald in the head.

"Let's see...we're really low on ethers..." Donald mumbled, "...thanks to someone..."

"Hey, I'm not the only one who uses them, Duck Boy." Corita growled.

"And we need more potions, and some...WILL YOU STOP POKING ME?"

"Sorry, Donald." Goofy said sadly.

"I wonder when Merlin'll be back." Corita said, turning her head to look at her friends.

"Why does it matter?" Donald asked, looking up from their supplies.

"Because if Merlin gets back before Sora, Sora'll be in more than a little bit of trouble."

"Aw, phooey." Donald grumbled, gathering up the supplies. "I don't think it'll matter...HEY!"

A Soldier Heartless had just appeared in the house in a cloud of darkness. It darted forward and grabbed the bag of supplies, then ran out of the house.

The friends sat shocked for a few seconds before they realized what happened. When they finally came to their senses and ran outside, weapons drawn, they saw that a whole pack of the Heartless were digging through their stuff.

"HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!" Corita roared.

The Heartless ignored her. She ran forward, followed closely by Donald and Goofy. The Heartless scattered when the trio reached them, which only caused their supplies to become even more spread around.

The three friends had defeated most of the Heartless when Sora emerged from Merlin's house with a confused look on his face.

"Sora! A little help, please!" Corita shouted as she shot a fire spell at one of the Heartless.

"What's going on?" Sora asked. "I was in the book, and..."

"Oh! Did ya bring the book, Sora?" Goofy asked.

"Was I supposed to?" Sora asked nervously.

Behind him, several of the Soldiers gleefully ran out of Merlin's house, carrying Pooh's storybook above their heads.

"YES!" Corita and Donald roared at the same time. Sora turned and saw the Heartless as well, and quickly ran to attack.

"Give that back!" Sora roared, slicing at one of the Heartless with the Keyblade.

"I already tried the whole yelling thing. Didn't work." Corita told him as she cast a cure spell on Goofy, who was fighting Heartless 20 feet away from them.

Donald lept forward, and managed to pin down the Heartless that was holding Pooh's book. Sora and Corita defeated the other Heartless that surrounded them, then tried to pull the book away from the last one.

Sora gripped the book and pulled. The Heartless clearly had an iron grip, as Sora couldn't get it. Corita joined him, and together they managed to pull the book away. The Heartless was quickly defeated by Donald as Sora and Corita inspected the book.

"It's all slashed up..." Corita said sadly.

"I hope Pooh's okay." Sora said in a worried voice.

"Do you want to go back and check on him?" Donald asked. Sora nodded, and Donald took the book from them. He held the now slash-covered book up, and Sora entered it.

"Well, now we have something to do." Corita said dully. "Picking up our stuff."

Ethers, potions, books and a few small gummi blocks were scattered across the stone plaza in front of Merlin's house. Goofy had already begun to gather the stuff, and now Donald and Corita joined in.

"This stinks." Donald grumbled. "Why were the Heartless in Merlin's house anyway?"

"I dunno, Donald." Corita said sarcastically. "Maybe because there were only 3 people guarding it, and they weren't doing much of anything anyway?"

"Still..."

"Um, Corita?" Goofy said from across the plaza. "I have some bad news..."

"What is it?" Corita asked, walking over to him.

Goofy sadly handed her another book. Corita gasped when she looked down and saw that the Heartless had slashed up 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads' much like they'd slashed up Pooh's storybook.

"This means WAR!" Corita roared angrily.

"Aren't we technically already at war with them?" Donald snickered. Corita glared at him and proceeded to chuck a gummi block at his head. Donald squawked loudly and dashed over to her and Goofy.

"Bring it on, Corita!"

Corita glared down at Donald. "Don't make me come down there."

Donald glared back at her.

"What happened here!"

Corita, Donald and Goofy winced. They looked up and saw that Merlin was standing in the middle of the plaza, looking around at the mess.

"Oh...hi, Merlin!" Corita said brightly. "Umm...there's a perfectly good explaination for why our stuff is scattered around like this..."

"I'm quite excited to hear it."

"Um...um...DONALD KNOWS!" Corita cried.

"Wak!" Donald cried. "Umm...umm...Goofy wanted to tell you!"

"Well, Merlin..." Goofy began. "We were, um..."

Merlin glared at the three of them. They hung their heads.

"Sora went into the book, and we weren't being the most attentive guards..." Corita began.

"So some Heartless came in and stole our stuff, and Pooh's book." Donald continued.

"We beat all the Heartless, but they scratched up Pooh's book, so Sora went back in to check on things." Goofy finished.

Merlin sighed. He held out his hand, and Donald handed it to him. Merlin opened the book and faced it away from him, and in a bright flash of light Sora reappeared.

"Owww...doing that always gives me a headache." Sora complained, still facing away from them.

"Um, Sora?" Corita said quietly.

"Yeah?" Sora asked, turning around. His face turned pale when he saw Merlin.

"Couldn't be bothered to wait up for an old wizard, eh?" Merlin said coldly, closing the book and looking closer at it.

Sora laughed nervously. "Sorry about that..."

"How are things in there?"

"Not good." Sora sighed sadly. "Pooh seems to have forgotten all about me. And not just me...all his other friends, too..."

Merlin sighed sadly. "I was afraid of that...I suspect it has something to do with the pages the Heartless stole."

"The Heartless stole some of the pages?" Donald asked.

"Look here." Merlin said, holding the book open and showing the group where several pages had been torn out.

"Poor Pooh..." Corita said sadly.

"You'll have to collect the torn pages and repair the book to put things right." Merlin decided, closing the book with a snap.

"No problem!" The group said together.

Merlin smiled. "I'd been meaning to tell Leon I found the book, but...I suppose it's best we keep it between us for now."

"Alright, Merlin." Sora said.

"Now, Sora...take this." Merlin said, reaching into one of his pockets.

"AHH!" Sora yelped. "Sorry, Merlin, but I have to go, umm...check on the Gummi Ship! Yeah! You know, it's been making these weird rattling noise, so...I've gotta go!"

Sora ran away as fast as his legs would carry him.

Corita, Donald and Goofy blinked. Merlin sighed.

"Here, Corita." Merlin said, handing her a small charm. "Give this to your brother."

"Oh, it's PRETTY!" Corita squealed, looking closely at it. "No offense, Merlin, but...what would Sora want with a charm?"

"It'll allow him to summon a new ally." Merlin said, winking at them.

"Like Simba last time?" Donald asked.

Merlin nodded. He swept his arms around him, and their scattered items flew neatly back into their bag.

"Couldn't you have just done that earlier?" Donald sighed.

* * *

"Sora! Where are you?" Goofy called as they entered the Gummi Ship.

"We're back from shopping!" Corita squealed. "Sora?"

Sora's head popped out from behind the pilot's seat. "Did Merlin give you anything for me?"

"As a matter of fact, he did!" Corita said brightly.

"I DON'T WANT IT!" Sora cried, vanishing again.

Corita was silent for a moment. "Alright, then I'll keep it."

"GOOD! I don't...what's so funny!"

Corita was laughing. She stopped for a moment. "Oh, nothing..."

Sora sat up in the pilot's chair and began to launch the ship. He turned on the radar, and located the next world they'd be headed to.

Corita sat next to Sora in the cockpit, and Donald and Goofy sat in the back. As Sora piloted the ship out of Hollow Bastion, Corita looked sadly down at 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads'.

"Why?" She sobbed. "He was so young..."

"It's just a book, Corita..." Sora muttered.

"You're just saying that because you hate books!" Corita said angrily.

"I don't hate books!"

"You only like Pooh's book because you can go into it!"

"So?"

"Why are you guys arguing over something so pointless?" Donald sighed from the back.

"Don't you guys get it? This book has helped us through countless journeys!"

"It's still perfectly fine, Corita. It's cover is just ripped..."

They continued to randomly fight over 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads' until they reached the next gate. They didn't even notice that they'd flown into it until they were thrown forward by the powerful speeds.

"AHH! SORA, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WARN US WHEN THAT HAPPENS!" Corita roared after they'd made it through the gate.

"You were the one arguing with me! Over a stupid book!"

"IT'S NOT STUPID!"

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Donald screeched.

* * *

"Hey, isn't that the Coliseum?" Sora asked, pointing out the window ahead of him. Corita, who'd been looking through 'Gummi Ships for Boneheads', and Goofy and Donald, who'd been sitting in the back half asleep, suddenly jerked awake. They'd traveled through the gate for about 15 minutes, and they'd just emerged a few minutes before.

"The what?" Corita asked.

"The Coliseum. Right ahead."

Corita, Donald and Goofy crowded around him and peered out the window.

"Hey...that is the Coliseum!" Goofy said happily. "Let's go see how Hercules is doing!"

"Yeah! Maybe we'll be good enough to be real heroes now!" Sora said excitedly. He turned the ship towards the world, and slowly began to move the ship towards it.

* * *

"Nice going, Sora." Corita said dully as they examined their surroundings.

"Hey, this isn't my fault!" Sora complained. "Donald distracted me!"

"How did I distract you!" Donald cried.

"Well, you kept telling me what a pathetic pilot I am!"

"Considering where you landed us, I'd say -"

"SHUT UP!" Corita roared. "Now, why don't we try to figure out where we are?"

They appeared to be in a huge, dark cavern. There were two paths that led to massive, eerily decorated doors, and a huge dark lake resided next to the area they were in. A third path led to a huge flight of stairs, and Goofy was the one to point them out.

"Look! We were just a little off, is all." He chuckled, gesturing to the stairs. "The Coliseum should be right up them stairs!"

"I guess we WERE a little off." Sora said brightly, walking towards them.

"What do you mean 'we'? YOU were the one who landed..." Donald growled.

"Shut up, Donald." Corita mumbled.

They were headed towards the stairs when a terrifying scream shattered the eerie silence. The team impulsively summoned their weapons and turned towards the direction of the scream. They saw that on one of the other paths, a young woman was being attacked by several Heartless.

"We've gotta help her!" Sora cried, running away from the stairs and to the woman. When they finally reached her, the Heartless scattered in fright.

"Aw, get back here, you cowards!" Corita shouted at them as they vanished into the darkness. Sora offered the woman his hand to help her off of the ground.

"Thanks, but...I'm fine." She said. She had long brown hair and wore a light purple dress, and her voice clearly showed that she was very strong-willed.

"...And you're supposed to be?" She asked sarcastically after she's stood up.

"I'm Sora." Sora announced. "This is my sister, Corita, and our friends, Donald and Goofy. We came to see Hercules."

The woman looked at them each in turn, then looked back at Sora. "You know Wonderboy?"

"Yeah! 'Cause we're heroes, too!" Donald said proudly.

"You mean JUNIOR heroes, Donald." Goofy chuckled softly.

Donald sighed. The woman smiled. "Looks like we have a friend in common. Name's Megara. Call me Meg."

"How's Herc been, Meg?" Sora asked.

Meg hung her head. "He's been duking it out in the Coliseum every day. He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. The opponents are bad news...directly from Hades himself..."

"Hades?" The group cried at once.

Meg nodded. "Right. Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him. Maybe I can get him to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happens to him..."

"Gawrsh, it sounds like you're more than just friends!" Goofy chuckled. Meg blushed.

"Erm, no! Um...I mean..."

"We'll go have a little talk with Hades. I'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him."

Meg shrugged. "It looks like you know what you're doing...I guess I'll take you up on that offer."

"Alright, let's get going!" Donald said excitedly. "So...where are we going?"

"Hades's chamber should be somewhere beyond this door." Meg told them, walking towards the giant door.

"Isn't that a bit...vague?" Corita wondered.

"Eh, the risk and extreme danger is half the fun!" Sora said in an excited tone. The others turned to stare at him.

Sora53: Whew...I'm done dancing...  
Corita: Me, too...  
Joe: I'm beat!  
Roxas: NOT ME! I COULD KEEP DANCING ALL NIGHT LONG! -keeps dancing-  
Sora53: Hey...where'd the Fans go?  
-meanwhile-  
Fans: -are in hiding with the Riku Fangirls- Crazyness...-eye twitch-  
Riku Fangirls: RIKU! RIKU RIKU!  
Fans: X-x why...why...


	24. The Cave of the Dead

Sora53: -sob- I haven't updated in, like, 47 years!  
Fans: WE HATE YOU, SORA53!  
Sora53: And yet you still came crawling back after I finally updated...  
Fans: Um... -hides-  
Joe: -makes popcorn-  
Sora53: Joe, I don't think you'll need that...it's a short chapter...  
Joe: SO?  
Corita: He's a bit...excessive.  
Sora53: So I've noticed... 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Corita and an extreme tendancy to procrastinate O-o

Despite the overwhelming size of the door, the team was easily able to open it. They all went inside, and found themselves in a huge dark chamber, lit by glowing blue torches. The group slowly inched closer together.

"Ugh...this place is just plain creepy." Corita complained.

"It's the Cave of the Dead." Meg explained. "It's supposed to be creepy."

"Let's keep going." Sora said.

"Actually, I'm going to stay behind." Meg said. The group turned to face her.

"Why?" Sora asked.

"I need to go check on Wonderboy. He had another battle today...I should go make sure he's still alive."

"That's the positive attitude." Corita said, rolling her eyes as Meg headed back. The group moved forward together, heading for the small path that was visible at the end of the huge chamber.

Suddenly, out of the shadows, someone darted through the cavern and onto the path they were headed for. Even from such a far distance, there was no mistaking who it was.

"The Organization!" Donald cried as the figure vanished back into the shadows.

"Yeah. Let's go!" Sora said boldly. They moved quickly through the chamber, and passed through the door at the end.

"Aw, man..." Donald groaned. They were now in a narrow passage, enclosed by rock and dimly lit with a few torches. The group gave an involuntary shudder.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Sora said in a shaky voice. The group slowly began to inch forward. Nothing happened.

"Huh...this isn't so scary." Corita said, looking around.

"BOO!"

"AHHH! DONALD, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Donald chuckled evilly. Corita smacked him in the head, and they continued through the passageway in silence for a few minutes.

"What's that ahead?" Sora wondered, pointing.

"It looks like another chamber." Goofy said. "Let's go!"

They hurried forward, eager to reach an area more open than the tiny passage they were in. Out of the shadows, though, they saw a figure dart out once again.

"Watch out!" Goofy warned, and the group readied their weapons. The cloaked figure, however, didn't seem too eager to stay in chat. In fact, he ran right past them.

"Run! Run away!" The cloaked figure squealed, running past them towards the next path. He vanished into the shadows.

Sora lowered his Keyblade and raised an eyebrow. "Okay...?"

"We should follow him...I guess..." Corita muttered, lowering her staff. Shrugging, the group walked through the small chamber, and entered the door that stood at the end of it.

The door opened into a huge cave, with a narrow path leading upward towards yet another giant door. The path fell down into a pool of swirling green light below...how far below, none of them were too eager to find out.

"Hades, come out!" Sora roared, darting forward onto the large platform they stood on. Behind him, the others weren't nearly as eager.

"Donald, are you scared?" Corita asked.

"W-w-why?" Donald asked, behind her.

"Because you'll break off my hand if you squeeze any harder..."

"I'm scared, too, Donald..." Goofy said with a shiver.

They crept to the edge of the platform and peered over the edge. The three of them each gave an involuntary shudder.

"Come on, guys." Sora said from behind them. Leaping away from the edge, they obediently followed Sora up the path. About halfway up the path, there was another large platform. However, once they had all stepped onto it, several Heartless appeared.

"Aw, can't you guys just leave us alone?" Corita moaned, shooting several fire spells at a few dog-like Heartless, the same type that had been attacking Meg. They were quickly eliminated, however, and the group continued up the narrow path. They reached the top, where there was another large platform against the wall. The large door they had seen from the bottom stood before them.

"Shall we?" Sora asked with a grin.

"Well, we've never worried about knocking before." Corita said with a shrug. She and Sora pulled the door open, and they darted inside.

A strange sight met their eyes. Hades, red with fury, was on one side of the room. Facing Hades on the opposite side of the room was a tall, mysterious looking man wearing a deep red coat. He was holding a large sword, obviously ready to attack Hades. Leaning against the far was was Pete, who looked terrified.

"Hades!" Donald roared angrily, taking out his staff. Hades turned blue again and looked at them with a puzzled look.

"You again?" He said, just before the mysterious man lept across the dimly-lit stone room and attacked him, knocking him back.

"Fight!" The man roared at the group. He swung at Hades again, but Hades managed to reach up and stop the sword with his hand. He threw the man back against the opposite wall, and quickly conjured a fireball. He threw it at the man, but Sora lept in front of the man and blocked the fireball with the Keyblade.

"Get up!" Sora said to the man, who was still slumped against the wall. The man pulled himself up just in time to fight Hades with the group.

"Alright! This'll be a piece of cake!" Corita said brightly, taking aim and shooting a blizzard spell at Hades at the same time as Donald. Hades, with a chuckle, snapped his fingers, and the spells vanished in mid-flight.

"What the...?" Donald said, staring at his staff in disbelief. He took aim to shoot another spell, and this one came out much weaker, vanishing by itself before it made 2 feet.

Meanwhile, Sora and Goofy were having similar problems. Sora would swing his Keyblade once or twice and already appear worn out, and Goofy could barely hold up his shield.

"What's going on...?" Corita groaned, struggling to hold up her staff.

"I feel kinda funny..." Sora said, leaning against the wall.

Hades chuckled at them. "That's right! See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes...comes with the territory."

Hades made several more fireballs appear and shot them at Sora and Goofy. The mysterious man lept forward and sliced through the fireballs, causing them to vanish. Hades prepared another fireball, still chuckling to himself.

"Go now!" The man roared.

"But I've gotta talk to Hades!" Sora told him.

"We can't fight him here! We have to go! Now!" The man told him.

There was something about this man that told them that they had to listen to him. They quickly darted out of the door, and ran down the path, the green light still swirling below.

They made it to the bottom of the path, where they had to stop for a moment to catch their breath.

"Do you think we lost him?" Sora asked, panting.

"Don't count on it." The man said grimly.

A giant cloud of blue smoke appeared between Sora and Corita. Hades appeared there, and with a smile, he said, "Leaving so soon?"

"We know you must be heartbroken." Corita said sarcastically, darting towards the door in the cliff wall. The others followed, and they made it through the door, slamming it shut behind them. Finally back in the Inner Chamber and out of the way of Hades, the group collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard. The mysterious man stood a few feet away, facing away from them.

"You're really good." Sora said in awe. "Are you some kind of hero?"

The man shook his head. "No, I'm no hero...I'm just an..."

The man trailed off. The others looked at each other.

"Auron." The man said, turning to face them.

"Huh?" The four said in unison, looking at each other with puzzled faces.

The man sighed. "My name."

"Ohh!" The four said together again. They stood up.

"Well, my name's Sora!" Sora said boldly.

Corita put an arm around her brother's shoulders and pulled him close to her. "I'm Corita!"

Donald shoved his way in front of them. "I'm Donald!"

Goofy pushed his way between Sora and Corita. "Name's Goofy!"

This arrangement was so unstable that the four of them went crashing to the ground. Auron stared at them.

"It seems we were fated to meet. Maybe you need a guardian."

"A guardian?" Sora asked, pushing his sister off of his head. "Thanks, but no thanks."

He managed to pull himself up and began walking back down the passageway. Auron gave a slight chuckle as the others walked past him as well, and he turned to follow them.

Sora53: DON'T HURT ME! I TOLD YOU IT WAS SHORT! -runs away screaming-  
Roxas: Ummm...was anyone going to yell at her?  
Everyone: No!  
Riku Fangirls: NO RIKU!  
Corita: Um, it's still really early in the fic...  
Riku Fangirls: That's no excuse! -eye twitch-  
Sora53: -randomly reappears- Hopefully the next chapter will be much sooner and longer XD  
Riku Fangirls: THERE SHE IS! GET HER!  
Sora53: Oh, snap. AHHHH!!!


	25. Junior Heroes

Sora53: I'm not even gonna say anything. You probably just want to read.  
Fans: Nope. Just here for the popcorn. -eats- 

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING BUT CORITA!!!! MUAHAHA-cough-HAHAHA!

---------------------

Donald stifled a yawn as they continued slowly down the passage. Corita, who was walking next to him, looked down in amusement.

"Tired?"

"Maybe a little." Donald admitted. "This whole place is wearing me out."

"Yeah..." Corita agreed sadly. "I miss the light...this darkness is hurting my eyes."

"Don't worry, guys. We'll be out soon." Sora said in a reassuring voice. The passage they were in was beginning to widen, and not soon after, they found themselves back in the large chamber they had started out in. The large door, eerily illuminated by the glowing blue torches on the wall, had a large keyhole on it.

Donald ran up to it, clearly irritated. "What? It's closed?! It was open when we came through before!"

He began to bang on the door repeatedly. The others looked at him with interest for a few moments, until the Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand.

"Will that open it?" Auron asked, looking down at the shining Key. Sora looked up at him and nodded. "I think so."

Sora lifted the Keyblade and pointed it at the lock on the door. Just as a beam of light shot from the end of it, opening the lock, a loud, ear-spitting roar came from behind them, followed by the cavern around them rumbling.

"That CAN'T be good..." Corita muttered as she struggled not to fall.

"Hurry!" Auron said urgently, taking out his sword and slinging it over his shoulder. Sora, Corita and Goofy rushed towards the door, which Donald had already pushed open. Another loud roar came from behind them, and a second later, Cerberus, Hades' 3-headed pet, lept into the chamber. The black dog was so huge that the chamber seemed to shrink around him.

"Come on!" Donald shouted from the other side of the door as Goofy ran past the door and stood next to him. Sora and Corita, however, were distracted.

"Didn't we already beat him?" Corita asked, her voice torn between nervousness and irritation.

"Yeah..." Sora muttered back, staring at Auron. The brave warrior was already fighting the dog back. Sora couldn't help but be awed by his strength...

"COME ON!" Donald and Goofy shouted together.

"We can't let him fight alone!" Sora cried, running forward with his Keyblade. Corita nodded and, grabbing her staff, ran into the fray.

Donald sighed. "They always have to be in the fight..."

Auron looked down at them as they ran next to him. He didn't say anything, just gave them an amused grunt. They didn't have much time together, however, as Cerberus spun around, causing them to scatter.

* * *

As Auron and Sora sliced away at Cerberus, wearing him down, Corita kept them strong with her tireless healing spells. They had already taken Cerberus down before, and that was a long time ago...they had gotten stronger as well as wiser. They weren't prepared, however, for Cerberus running around the chamber, berserk.

"WATCH OUT, SORA!" Corita cried as Cerberus ran directly towards her brother, who was busy charging a fire spell. Sora rolled out of the way and shot a blast of fire at Cerberus, hitting it in its middle face. Auron came out of nowhere, knocking the monster back with his sword. Dazed, Cerberus turned around and began running blindly towards Corita.

"WATCH OUT, CORITA!" Sora shouted.

"AHH, I'M OUT OF MP!! DISTRACT HIM!" Corita cried, running away from the charging beast.

Sora thought quickly, thinking of what he could do...desperate, he mustered his strength, and threw the Keyblade at Cerberus.

"HEY, YOU BIG UGLY MONSTER! TAKE THAT!" Sora cried. It was a direct hit, and Cerberus howled with rage. The great beast fell to the ground, twitching. The Keyblade fell, and Corita, who was running past, caught it before it clattered to the ground.

"Go!" Auron said, gesturing towards the door. He, Sora, and Corita ran as fast as they could towards the door. Cerberus stood up and, shaking it's heads, ran towards them, roaring fiercely.

"Hurry!" Donald shouted, letting them pass. Corita ran in first, followed by Sora, and finally, Auron. They managed to close the door just as the giant dog was 20 feet from them. As Donald and Goofy pushed the door closed, Sora and Corita stuck their tounges out at the fierce beast.

With the door safely closed and Cerberus behind them, they sighed with relief.

"Well, THAT was fun." Donald said sarcastically.

"Hey, I didn't see you helping out there, Donald!" Corita said.

"SOMEONE had to be here to close the door..."

"Will you two stop bickering?" Sora said. "Where's Auron?"

The group looked around, shocked.

"He came through the door..." Goofy said.

"I wouldn't worry too much. He can take care of himself." Sora said in an admiring voice. "Let's go find Meg. Then we can try this again. Corita, can I have the Keyblade back?"

"I dunno, Sora..." Corita said with amusement, holding up the weapon. "This is kinda fun to play with..."

She spun the Keyblade and tossed it into the air, catching it effortlessly. Sora rolled his eyes.

"It's not a TOY! It's my KEYBLADE!"

"Aw, you're no fun." Corita said sadly. "Hey, I wonder if I could use it? Look, I bet I can hit that funny-looking rock right there!"

Sora's eye twitched. "I'm the Keyblade Master! Only I can..."

Corita swung the Keyblade and, missing the rock by 5 feet, banged into a geyser. Green steam hissed out, and she fell backwards in shock, knocking not only herself over, but her brother and friends.

"...use it." Sora said, rolling his eyes.

"Ehehehe..." Corita laughed nervously, handing the Keyblade back to Sora.

* * *

"Gawrsh, this sure brings back memories!" Goofy chuckled happily as they emerged from the door into the Underworld. The Olympus Coliseum stood before them, in all its brilliant splendor. The sun was shining brightly above, giving everything an even more magnificent appearance.

"I wonder where Hercules is?" Corita asked, looking up at the coliseum.

As if on cue, the door to the coliseum creaked open, and Hercules emerged. He appeared exhausted, but still gave them a brilliant smile as they approached him.

"Sora! Corita! Donald! Goofy!" Hercules said happily, looking at each of them in turn. "When did you get here?"

"Hey, Herc!" Sora said in greeting.

Hercules walked down the steps and headed towards them. The group met up with Hercules in the center of the area.

"On another adventure, I assume?" Hercules said with a grin.

"Naturally." Corita said happily.

"Just tracking down some Heartless, looking for some friends, the usual." Sora said with a sly grin.

"Junior Heroes, always busy!" Hercules said, lifting his arm.

"You know it!" Sora said, lifting his arm and locking hands with Hercules.

"Why don't you come on into the Lobby? We can talk there." Hercules suggested, gesturing back towards where he'd came from.

"Sure." Sora said, nodding.

"Anything to get out of this sun." Donald moaned.

"It isn't THAT hot..." Corita chuckled, looking down at him. Donald grunted.

"So, did you find those friends of yours?" Hercules asked, opening the door to the lobby and letting them in.

"Still working on it." Sora said with a sigh.

"When we got here, we ran into Meg-"

Corita jabbed Sora in the ribs, and he quickly corrected himself.

"Meg-mega trouble!" Sora said quickly. "So, we had to help someone out. We went to try and talk to Hades...but the Underworld drains our strength. Do you have any ideas?"

Hercules thought for a few moments. A look of brilliance flashed across his face.

"Got it! There's a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse. The gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there."

"Could we borrow it?" Corita asked.

"Sure, why not! I'll go get it for you."

"Thanks a lot, Herc!" Goofy said with a smile.

"Don't mention it." He said. "There's one thing, though...But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus Stone. And I

have a match today, so I can't go with you..."

The group exchanged nervous looks.

"So...what do we do?" Sora asked.

Hercules smiled again. "Know what you need? Training! Why don't you go talk to Phil?"

"Hey, good idea!" Donald said.

"Yeah! We haven't seen Phil in a long time. I bet he'll be really happy when he sees how much stronger the Junior Heroes have gotten!" Corita said happily.

"Thanks again, Herc!" Sora said. "Where's Phil?"

"He should be out in the arena." Hercules said. "Good luck!"

The four of them marched out the door into the arena, looking around in awe at the size of the area. About 30 feet away, staring off into the distance, was Phil. The chronically-grumpy satyr, while never particularly friendly towards them, always had good advice on combat. They approached him slowly, and when they were about 5 feet away, he began to talk.

"Hey champ, how ya feeling? Better rest up for tomorrow's match. Nobody's gonna pay to see a worn-out hero...capiche?"

Phil had mistaken them for Hercules before, but rather than stopping him, they let him continue. It was endlessly entertaining to listen to the satyr rant to the wrong person.

"Remember what I told you. Victory in the games comes down to two simple words: Eat, bathe, sleep!"

As Goofy counted the words on his fingers, Sora, Corita and Donald burst into laughter. Phil stiffened and turned to see who was laughing at him. He broke into a smile when he saw them.

"Well, if it ain't the Junior Heroes!" Phil said merrily, running up to them.

"How're you doing, Phil?" Corita asked joyfully.

"Never better!" Phil said. "How you guys been? Have you earned your "true hero" wings yet?"

The four of them thought for a moment, and just as they were about to speak, Phil broke in, "Nope, you ain't got what it takes."

They hung their heads and sighed.

"So, what's up?" Phil asked.

"Well, it's a long story..." Sora said.

"I've got time."

"I'll just cut to the chase. We need to take down Hades."

Phil burst into hysterical laughter. The others looked at each other with confused looks.

"What's so funny?" Sora finally asked.

"You guys are gonna take down Hades?!" Phil laughed.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You got nerve. I like that. Hey, you never know---stranger things have happened, right? Better get cracking, then! So you want to train, eh? All right, I'm gonna work you hard!"

"I wouldn't expect any less from you, Phil." Sora said with a sly grin, taking out his Keyblade.

---------------------

Sora53: Okay, I know...it isn't the longest or the best, but...it's a chapter, right?  
Fans: Yeah, yeah, yeah...there's no excuse for your lateness!  
Sora53: Umm...I was busy!  
Joe: I MISSED CORITA SO MUCH!  
Sora53: Sorry, all. I'm back into writing...I had terrible writer's block!  
Roxas: For 3 months?  
Sora53: -sob- YES!!!!


	26. Dance, Water, Dance

Sora53: WHO WANTS SODA!?  
Fans: O-o um...why?  
Sora53: Because, I'm passing out free caffeine with this chapter!  
Roxas: Why?  
Joe: WHO CARES?! -chugs 14 sodas-  
Corita: Oh, dear. -runs screaming-  
Sora53: Hey, guess what?  
Fans: No one cares.  
Sora53: It's almost KH2's birthday!  
Sora: Happy birthday, KH2. Whoot.  
Sora53: -sob- you don't sound excited... 

_Disclaimer: I own Corita, and in no way own anything KH or KH related. Yeah._

"Good job, Sora!" Jiminy chirped from Corita's shoulder. He was scribbling down something in his journal. "You completed every one of Phil's challenges with flying colors!"

"That's our Sora!" Goofy chortled as Sora walked back to them after smashing the last pot.

"Hmm...not bad, kid." Phil complimented.

"Thanks, Phil." Sora said happily.

"Listen, I've gotta take off for a bit." Phil said, turning away from them.

"Oh...where are you going?" Corita asked curiously.

"None of your beeswax."

"Oh, um...okay."

As Phil walked off into the lobby, Hercules came out and walked towards them. He had a look of sadness on his face.

"Hey, Herc!" Sora said in greeting.

"I'm sorry, guys..." Hercules said sadly, "But the Olympus Stone's been stolen."

"What?!" The four of them shouted in unison.

"By who?" Donald squawked angrily.

"We don't know who did it yet." Hercules explained. "All we're sure of is that it was a guy in a black-hooded cloak. And he had accomplices...a bunch of creatures in white."

Comprehension dawned on their faces. Seeing their grins, Hercules asked, "Someone you know?"

"I think so." Sora said. "Hey, if we can get the stone back, can we borrow it for a while?"

"Sure." Hercules said. "By the way...you haven't seen Meg around, have you?"

They shook their heads. Hercules sighed.

"Oh, okay...well, I guess I'll see you later..."

"What's wrong, your hero-ness? Feeling under the weather?" Echoed a loud voice across the stadium. Recognizing the voice instantly as that of Hades, the group snapped to attention. Sure enough, Hades appeared in a burst of flame right next to Hercules. He smiled casually and placed a hand on Hercules's shoulder.

"You know, I though staying in perfect shape was part of the hero job description...you know what I'm saying?" Hades said as Hercules ducked away from the Lord of the Dead.

Sora marched over to him angrily. "Hades, we need to talk!"

Hades chortled and knocked Sora to the ground with a flick of his wrist.

"Now, now. Manners." Hades said to Sora. Sora glared at him as Corita and Goofy helped him up. "I came to share a bit of mildly-interesting news: seems your dear, sweet little Nutmeg went and got herself lost in the Underworld."

"You mean you kidnapped her!" Hercules snarled.

"Well, maybe... But why get caught up in the details?" Hades said with a shrug.

With a look of anger still on his face, Hercules whistled loudly. Mere seconds later, over the Coliseum walls, flew a pure-white horse with a short light-blue mane. It had huge wings that allowed it to cover the distance between himself and Hercules within a matter of seconds. The horse landed lightly and Hercules prepared to hoist himself up onto him.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Hades said in a taunting voice. "You can't leave now, can you? You've got a very important match today, against, um... the bloodthirsty Hydra!"

Hercules turned away from the horse and glared at Hades again.

"I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kind of 'accidents' might happen." Hades said evilly.

"Yeah, accidents you cause." Corita said bitterly.

"Again with the details! Who needs them?" Hades said.

"You're just a coward." Hercules growled.

"Well, we can't all be heroes." Hades said as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Hercules sighed again, and approached his friends. "Can you handle this?"

"Of course!" Sora said brightly.

"Don't forget; we're heroes too!" Corita said cheerfully.

"Junior heroes, Corita." Goofy corrected. Donald sighed.

"You take care of the Hydra." Sora said to Hercules. "We'll handle the rest."

"I'm counting on you." Hercules said. At that moment, the horse trotted back to Hercules and nudged him with his nose.

"Who's this?" Corita asked curiously.

"This is Pegasus." Hercules explained.

"He's beautiful!" Corita said admiringly.

"Um, Corita? You're weird." Sora sighed. Corita glared at him.

"You gotta go find Meg!" Hercules said to Pegasus urgently. Pegasus nodded and took off, his wings creating a whirlwind that nearly knocked them all down.

* * *

After saying their goodbyes to Hercules, the crew had departed once again for the Underworld. As they closed the door to the Coliseum behind them and became enveloped in darkness, they began to feel their strength being sapped from them. It became even harder to see as they reached the bottom of the steps, exhaused from even such a short trip. Their energy returned to them, however, when they saw Phil lying on the Underworld floor.

"Oh, no!" Corita cried, running over to him and quickly casting a cure spell on the satyr.

"Ooh, ooh..." Phil moaned as Sora and Donald helped him back up on his feet.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

Phil rubbed his head. "I spotted this strange guy all dressed in black. I chased after him, but he turned on me. Next thing I know, I'm seeing stars."

"Guy in black?!" Donald cried.

"He's the one who stole the Olympus Stone!" Sora said. "Which way did he go?"

"That way." Phil groaned, pointing. "He's a bad apple, all right. And all I wanted was to find a backup hero. Just in case Herc needed to take a break..."

"Heroes, eh? You could've just asked!" Sora pouted.

"You know someone?" Phil asked, excited. Sora smiled and took out the Keyblade, the key gleaming in the dim light.

Phil chuckled. "Good one, kid..."

Sora sighed and hung his head.

* * *

"Man, this Underworld Curse is really starting to get to me..." Sora sighed.

"Getting to you?" Corita said. "I have to cure you guys because you're so much weaker with the curse...but I'm weaker too! It's a cycle of weakness and pain!"

"Eh, you were always weak." Donald said.

"Excuse me?" Corita said sweetly.

"Guys, stop fighting..." Sora sighed as they trudged along.

"Yeah, it'll be all better once we get that there Olympus Stone back. Ya just gotta think positive!" Goofy said.

"Goofy, I admire you. Only you could be this cheerful in this situation." Corita said with a smile.

They had been in the Underworld searching for any sign of Meg or the man in the black cloak, but so far they'd found nothing but Heartless. They were just starting to lose hope when the path they were on took a steep incline and let them to the top of a cliff. Below them, a dense fog swirled, the same fog they had been marching through. They continued on into the next room where, at the far side, stood the black cloaked man, facing away from them.

Hearing their footsteps, the man turned towards them and gave a start. "Huh? YOU!"

The man took off his hood. He looked and sounded younger, and he had short, tannish hair. He stared at them for a few moments with a look of confusion on his face.

"Wait a second...Roxas?"

"Excuse me?" Sora asked, puzzled.

"Roxas? Oh, it's no use..." The man sighed.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sora asked.

"Let's see..." The man said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. He began to read it aloud to himself.

"'Demyx, if the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition'. Right. Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this job..."

"Demyx, huh...?" Sora muttered to himself.

"He's creepy. Shall I blast him into oblivion?" Corita asked.

"No, not yet." Sora said. "He's still talking to himself."

"...no respect, I can't understand WHY they -"

"Hey, Demyx!" Sora called out.

"Huh, wha? What?" Demyx said, startled.

"What are you doing down here, anyway?"

"Eh, had to get a little something." Demyx said casually, pulling another item out of his pocket. It was small and round, and it was a deep golden color that gleamed in the dark light of the Underworld.

"He IS the thief!" Donald shouted.

"Now that's just plain rude!" Demyx cried. He held the stone above his head, and it began to glow, empowering him. In a bright flash of light, a blue sitar appeared, and Demyx grasped it tightly. With a bright grin, he began playing it.

"Get ready!" Sora said to his friends.

"Always ready!" Goofy chuckled.

Demyx began to play faster. Light continued to build up around him.

"Dance, water, dance!" Demyx cried, and in a burst of light, several clear images, clearly conjured of water, appeared. They began rushing towards the group, prepared to attack.

"SCATTER!" Corita cried, and the group broke apart. They rushed forward and began beating back the water phantoms. Demyx continued to play his sitar, and the more he played, the more phantoms appeared.

"Take this!" Sora cried, knocking one phantom back into the cave wall, causing it to burst into a splash of water. Corita and Donald were casting various spells at the phantoms, leading to a similar result. As the phantoms vanished around them, Sora snuck around behind Demyx, who was playing with more vigor now.

"Dance, water, dance! Dance, water, dance! DANCE, WATER, DA-"

He was stopped by Sora casually bopping him on the head with the Keyblade. In shock, he dropped his sitar, and it vanished in a splash of water just like the last of the phantoms at the hands of Corita, Donald and Goofy.

"Augh!" Demyx cried. He lept away from Sora, then glared at him.

"Not bad, Roxas." He hissed.

Sora merely gave him a blank look. Demyx sighed and created a portal of darkness behind him.

"Roxas, come back to us..." Demyx whined as he backed into the portal. Before they could stop him, he was gone.

"Well, THAT was interesting." Corita said.

"That guy's a broken record." Sora sighed.

"Yeah...why did he keep calling you Roxas?"

Sora shrugged. "No clue...but he did leave us a memento..."

Sora bent down and scooped up the Olympus Stone, gleaming in a puddle of water.

"How kind of him!" Donald chuckled. As Sora held the stone, he could feel warmth spreading throughout his body, followed by a feeling of renewed power. With a smile, he put the stone in his pocket.

"Ah...that's MUCH better." Corita said happily.

"Now all we have to do is find Meg!" Goofy said.

"Yeah...let's get going!" Sora said boldly.

Joe: WHEEEEEE...-is bouncing around the room-  
Corita: Um, Sora53? How much soda did you give him?  
Sora53: Eh, 147.  
Everyone: X-x  
Roxas: Everyone, run. Fast. -eats ice cream-  
Joe: -explodes-  
Sora53: Well, that was resolved easily.  
Fans: YAY! HE'S GONE!  
Corita: You guys are so bitter.  
Fans: -shifty eyes- No...


	27. GET ON THE HYDRA’S BACK!

Sora53: Whee! This chapter, we're giving out free muffins!  
Fans: What kind of muffins?  
Sora53: Chocolate Chip!  
Joe: squee! -steals all the muffins-  
Sora53: Joe, you can't have all the muffins!  
Joe: TRY AND STOP ME! -runs away laughing evilly-  
Sora53: -sigh- apparantly I have to go beat up Joe. In the meantime, enjoy this thrilling chappie.  
Riku Fangirls: Is Riku in it?  
Sora53: No.  
Riku Fangirls: THEN WE HATE IT!! 

_Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or either of it's 2 sequels. I own Corita and this yummy chocolate chip muffin.  
Joe: -steals muffin-  
Sora53: Hey! Get out of the disclaimer, Joe!!_

"What do you think?" Corita asked as they passed through the next dark passageway.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, looking at her with a puzzled look.

"Why was that Demyx guy calling you 'Roxas'? I mean, you'd think that if an evil, creepy organization of darkness was stalking you, they'd at least do you the kindness of knowing your name..."

"Maybe they're getting Sora confused with someone else." Goofy suggested.

"I dunno..." Sora said. "I mean, how many people can you confuse with me?"

"Maybe you have an evil twin somewhere." Donald said with a sly grin.

"Yeah, that's a perfect explanation." Sora said, smiling.

Corita glared at them. "Just what are you guys saying?!"

They made it to the end of the passage and found themselves in yet another large cavern. It was a circular chamber with a large, glowing boulder in the middle. They saw, in shock, that the stone had an outline of Meg on it, glimmering brightly in the dim chamber. A small keyhole was right next to the outline of Meg. It began to glow when Sora grew closer.

"Some kind of gate?" Corita suggested.

"I guess so..." Sora said slowly.

"I wonder where that Meg could be?" Goofy wondered, looking around the cave. "There aren't any other passages...!"

Donald sighed and dragged him to the front of the rock, where he gestured to the glowing outline of Meg. "That give you a hint, Goofy?"

Goofy blinked. "Oh."

Sora held up the Keyblade, and a beam of light shot out from it and hit the keyhole. With a soft click, the lock broke, and the rock vanished in a spiral of light. The light faded away, and there was nothing left but a green portal that glowed eerily on the cavern floor.

Corita walked up to Sora and patted him on the shoulder.

"That's our Keyblade Master." She said happily.

Sora grinned. "It's what I do."

"Come on, you two!" Donald said, pushing past them towards the portal. "Meg needs our help!"

"Yes, sir..." Sora and Corita muttered in unison. They entered the portal behind Donald and Goofy, and they disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Sora, Corita, Donald and Goofy's adventures had included many things, from flying across Neverland to falling into a dark abyss. Because of this, they were quite used to being whisked away by mysterious portals. They landed in a large circular arena with a pure-white floor, and the walls, a deep blue, were jagged and gave the entire area a foreboding appearance. They may have been used to flying through portals, but landing wasn't one of their strong points.

"OW! Sora, your foot is on my head!" Corita growled.

"Well, then get your elbow off of my stomach!"

"That's not me! It's Donald!"

"No it isn't!" Donald shouted.

"Shut up, Duck Boy!"

Once they had managed to untangle themselves and stand up once again, they lept back in shock as they saw that Hades was watching them with a look of pure amusement on his face. Next to him, to their horror, stood Meg, tied up in glowing chains.

Hades gave a loud chuckle. "Thanks, kid! Now THAT'S what I call a key! Thanks for your help! You can go away now."

"Not a chance, Hades!" Sora growled.

Hades shrugged, and vanished once again. Meg took this moment to shout out, "Behind you!"

The team whirled around and saw that Pete stood at the opposite end of the cavern. Several Heartless appeared around him as he laughed loudly at them.

"What's wrong? Can't fight in the Underworld? Ohh, boo-hoo-hoo!"

"Think again, Pete!" Donald shouted.

Pete pointed at the group, and shouted to his Heartless team, "GET THEM!"

"CHARGE!" Sora shouted, and they all ran at the Hook Bat Heartless.

After a few moment, Sora remembered one important detail about why they were fighting in the first place: Meg. He dashed over to her quickly and, with a single slash of the Keyblade, broke the chains that had bound her.

"Thanks, Sora." Meg said gratefully.

"Don't mention it." Sora said with a smile, then ran back into the fray. As they continued to fight, Pete simply continued to conjure more Heartless. Eventually, there were too many to fight back themselves.

"Graah, we've gotta get out of here!" Corita shouted.

"There's too many! Let's go!" Sora cried, and just as they turned to escape out of the portal, Hercules swooped down on Pegasus and landed in front of them. As dramatic an entrance it was, it nearly caused another collision as the others screeched to a halt to avoid hitting the flying horse.

"Sorry I'm late." Hercules said boldly, hopping off of Pegasus. He dashed over to Meg, picked her up, and placed her on Pegasus's back in a single swoop.

"Get Meg outta here. I'll meet you back at the Coliseum." He said to Pegasus as well as the others. The horse nodded in agreement and took off quickly.

"What about you?" Sora asked.

Hercules chuckled. "I'm gonna show these guys what happens when they mess with a true hero."

During all of this, Pete had simply been summoning more and more Heartless.

"TAKE THIS, HERO BOY!" Pete roared gleefully.

"Go! I'll be fine." Hercules said, and the others ran into the portal.

* * *

This time around, the group managed to stick the landing, and they were able to greet Meg in a proper, non-pathetic way.

"Sora...I won't just leave him." Meg said to them from Pegasus's back.

"He'll be just fine." Sora said to her.

"Look, even Herc has his limits." Meg said, concerned. "He can't keep winning forever..."

"Well, I guess us heroes will just have to go and back him up!" Corita said brightly.

"JUNIOR HEROES, Corita!" Goofy chuckled. Corita sighed.

"Get Meg out of here!" Donald said to Pegasus. The horse took off once again, and the others prepared to re-enter the arena.

"Okay, let's manage to stay up again." Corita suggested.

"Good idea." Sora agreed.

"One...two...three!"

5 seconds later, they were heaped in a pile on the floor of the arena.

"SORA! Your foot is in my face again!"

"Ow! Goofy, you're crushing my arm!"

"Sorry, Donald...could you get off my foot?"

"...I'm not on your foot..."

"YOU STUPID NIMRODS!" Pete roared from underneath them.

Sora and Corita exchanged nervous looks. They lept up and, upon helping Donald and Goofy up as well, found that they had landed directly on top of Pete.

"Nice aim, guys." Hercules said with a smile from about 20 feet away, where he was fighting off a few last Hook Bat Heartless.

"Well, Pete, since we're right here, how about we beat you to a pulp?" Sora suggested, summoning his Keyblade.

Pete's face grew scared. "Erm, I um...bah, I'll deal with you guys later!"

Pete vanished right in front of them. The moment after, the cave began to rumble.

"Aw, man! Why does stuff like this always happen to us?!" Corita cried. "RUN!"

They all made it into the portal and out of harm's way just as the cavern was beginning to collapse. With a sigh of relief, they managed to land normally right alongside Hercules.

"Alright...let's get back to the coliseum." Hercules said.

"Good idea." Sora said in agreement.

* * *

"Are you stalking us or something?" Corita hissed to Hades.

"Maybe." Hades said coolly as he stood before them at the Underworld Entrance. "Maybe not. Depends on what your definition of 'stalk' is."

"What do you want, Hades?" Hercules hissed.

"Eh, just thought I'd drop in. See how you were doing."

"You need to come up with some new material." Sora said.

"Quiet, Keyboy. Actually, I thought I should tell you to go check on that Hydra you neglected to finish off. I hear things are really FALLING APART up there, champ."

Hades vanished in a puff of smoke before any of them could respond.

They stood in silence for a moment.

"...Maybe we should go check on the Coliseum." Corita suggested meekly.

* * *

"This can't be..." Hercules said in despair, falling to his knees. Meanwhile, the others were dodging large rocks flung at them by the Hydra. The Hydra, a massive purple monster, had entirely demolished the coliseum and lobby, and was now making quick work of the rubble in front of it.

"Champ! You're safe!" Phil cried as he ran towards Hercules. The Hydra let out a loud roar.

"I failed..." Hercules moaned.

"It's not your fault!" Meg said in a comforting tone.

"I left everyone unprotected." He cried, slamming his fist on the ground. "I'm some hero..."

"Aw, come on, champ! I didn't train you to think like that." Phil said.

"I just...I can't..." Hercules said. Meg grabbed his arm and helped him up, them helped him away. The Hydra was growing more and more dangerous, and something had to be done about it right away.

"Time to prove ourselves as true heroes!" Sora said, summoning the Keyblade.

"BRING IT ON!" Corita roared. The Hydra let out another roar in response.

"LET'S GO!" Goofy cried, rushing towards the beast. The others followed, and the battle was on. Sora and Goofy went to strike the Hydra's head as Donald and Corita scurried around below, casting magic. This plan would've worked magnificently if it weren't for the fact that the head was far out of their reach.

"Augh, now what?!" Sora cried.

"SORA!" cried Phil from a nearby pile of rubble.

"WHAT!?" the Keyblade Master replied, narrowly avoiding another falling rock.

"GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!"

"OKAY!"

Sora rushed around the Hydra and, by climbing another pile of rubble, was able to hop onto the beast's back. Meanwhile, Goofy was defending Donald and Corita as they shot a variety of spells at the Hydra.

"TASTE MY FIRE-BASED FURY!" Corita roared, shooting out a blast of fire from behind Goofy's shield. The spell was a direct hit, but the Hydra was hardly bothered by it. It merely shook its head and continued to fling rocks at them. It was too busy to notice that Sora was still on its back.

"GET READY!" Phil shouted.

"WHAT'S THE PLAN!?" Sora cried.

"HIT IT WITH THIS!" Phil roared, and flung a giant pot towards Sora. He lept in the air and, with his Keyblade, knocked the pot square into the Hydra's back. The Hydra let out a roar of pain, and its head momentarily fell to the ground. Sora and Goofy took this opportunity to mercilessly attack it. With a final swing, Sora's Keyblade sliced the Hydra's head off.

"Eurgh..." Corita muttered in disgust."Well, at least that was easy enough."

She had barely finished her sentence when the Hydra's head appeared to re-attach itself. If that weren't enough, two stumps appeared at the Hydra's shoulders, and within moments two more heads had appeared.

Their eyes grew wide.

"Maybe I spoke too soon." Corita said meekly.

"Ya think?" Sora cried, rushing towards the monster. "Nothing's ever that easy!"

"SORA!" Phil cried. "GET ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!"

"I HEARD YOU, PHIL!"

"GET ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!"

"I SAID I HEARD YOU!"

"GET ON THE HYDRA'S-"

"STOP IT!!" Sora roared in frustration.

"Sora, this is pathetic!" Corita cried after 5 more rocks had been flung at her head. "Just chuck that stupid Key at it!"

Sora blinked and looked down at his Keyblade. "It was a good enough idea, but..."

"I have to get up higher!" Sora cried. "I couldn't get it from here!"

"SORA! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!" Phil shouted.

"I...already...AM!" Sora cried.

"What about Pegasus?" Goofy cried over the Hydra's screeches.

"That's perfect!" Sora said. With a whistle, he had summoned the horse to him, and amid a flurry of wings and feathers, they were off.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Goofy continued to deflect rocks from Corita and Donald, who were still trying to use every magic spell known to them.

"Corita! I need another ether!" Donald said to her.

"Aw, is Duck Boy all out?" Corita said jokingly.

Donald scowled. "Yes, yes I am."

"This really stinks." Corita said bitterly. "I can't do anything to help with this stupid battle...why does this stupid Hydra need to be immune to every stupid spell known to stupid me?!"

"Umm...because it's stupid?" Donald suggested. After this statement, the Hydra's heads fell to the ground around them, and the Hydra's body slumped against the many piles of rubble.

"There!" Sora shouted from above as the Keyblade re-appeared in his hand.

"Now we can..." Corita began to say, but as she spoke, the Hydra came back to life once again, now with 7 heads.

"Apparantly we can go back to fighting." She said grumpily.

* * *

After the Hydra's next set of heads were cut off, it thankfully didn't come back to life with more heads. Sighing with relief, the four friends sat slumped together, exhausted from the difficult battle.

"Well, THAT was fun." Corita said sarcastically.

Hercules stood nearby, head hung. "I let you down. I'm just...no use."

"It's not your fault. Hey, even a god would be exhausted." Meg said

"She's right. Give yourself a chance to rest." Sora said, looking up at them.

"Don't worry, guys. I'll look after him. Hey, I owe you guys big time." Meg said gratefully.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Just let us know if Hades or the Heartless start acting up. We'll take care of it."

"Yeah, that's what heroes are for!" Donald said boldly, standing up.

Meg laughed. "When did you three make hero?"

"Let's save that for another time... We have to hit the road." Sora said as he stood up as well. Corita and Goofy followed.

"Take care you guys! Stay a little longer next time. " Phil said happily.

"Oh, I almost forgot. The Olympus Stone." Sora said quickly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the polished stone. As he held it out to Hercules for him to take, Sora stopped for a moment. The stone was glowing a little brighter than usual...

"Time to open another gate." Sora said as the stone floated into the air. He took out the Keyblade and held it in front of him as usual.

"So...how much longer till we're 'true hero' material?" Corita asked Hercules as Sora opened the gate.

Hercules smiled. "You're getting there."

Joe: -is bouncing around the room again-  
Sora53: I can't believe he ate all of the muffins...  
Corita: I can't believe he ate them all at once!  
Fans: Eh, I guess the boy has skills...  
Roxas: When are you going to give away ice cream? -sob- -eats ice cream-  
Sora53: Now, maybe it was just me, but this world took FOREVER!  
Riku Fangirls: Eh, we haven't done this in a while. GET SORA53!  
Sora53: -runs away screaming-


End file.
